In the context of the 2021 Spanish co-presidency of the 5+5 Dialogue and drawing on the Tunis Declaration adopted at the 16th Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the 5+5 Dialogue on 22 October 2020, the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) are jointly organising the 5th annual forum of the MedThink 5+5 network in partnership with Casa Árabe in Madrid, the 13th and 14th of October 2021.

Following the success of previous editions in Barcelona, Lisbon, Algiers and Malta, this year's meeting will gather high-level experts, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss on the quesion "What prospects for the 5+5 Dialogue in a Mediterranean in transformation? Adapting together to the post-COVID-19 realities."

Participants will tackle three important transformations likely to impact the future of the Western Mediterranean: the transformation of the production model, the digital transition, and the sustainability transition.

While these challenges have been gradually gaining a foothold in the region, their relevance has been considerably reaffirmed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Indeed, the pandemic has revealed the scope of the shortcomings of our socioeconomic systems, highlighting in turn the need to move towards shorter and integrated supply chains, a digital economy, and a sustainable development, to improve the resilience in the face of future crises.

Within each of these three transformations, the event will outline avenues for reflection on opportunities for sectoral cooperation in the framework of the 5+5 Dialogue, echoing the Commitments for a new ambition in the Mediterranean of the Summit of the Two Shores in June 2019 in Marseille, as well as the priorities reflected in the “New Agenda for the Mediterranean” released by the EU High Representative and the European Commission in February 2021.

Founded in 1995, the 5+5 Dialogue serves as a sub-regional forum for the ten Western Mediterranean countries that take part since its creation, five from the north of the Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, Malta and Portugal) and five from the southern shore (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia).

The MedThink 5+5 network is a sub-regional network of think tanks that was established in May 2016 with the support of more than thirty institutions from the ten Western Mediterranean countries of the 5+5 Dialogue. It aims to respond to basic needs within the system of the 5+5 Dialogue by working to enable dialogue though the organisation of conferences, seminars and symposia with key players in the region. It also serves as a platform of joint research and dissemination in order to provide output to the policy-making leadership of the Western Mediterranean Forum.

Programme now available in English and French.