Jordan assumes co-presidency of the Union for the Mediterranean

Jordan officially announced its readiness to assume the southern co-presidency of the Union for the Mediterranean (UFM), taking over from Egypt ,according to a Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday.

The announcement came following meeting of senior officials of the UfM held in Barcelona last Thursday, where the representatives of the 43 countries of the region unanimously welcomed the Jordanian readiness to take on the co-presidency for the southern half of the Union for the Mediterranean`.

Starting next September, Jordan will thus be guiding the co-presidency of the UfM , along with the EU.

The co-presidency main tasks will be focusing on coordination of joint vision and the political views of the member states regarding the role of the union and its development and joint economic projects , as well as following up implementation of these projects which includes ministerial meetings for the coming years.

UfM was launched on the 13th July 2008 at the Paris Summit as a continuation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euro-Med), also known as the Barcelona Process, established at the Barcelona Conference in 1995. The UfM constitutes a framework for political, economic and social relations between the EU and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries and is inspired by the goals set out in the Barcelona Declaration.

The UfM is linked to the goals of the Barcelona Declaration - namely working to make the creation of an area of peace, stability, security and shared economic prosperity, as well as full respect of democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms and promotion of understanding between cultures and civilizations in the Euro-Med region - a reality.