Regional Integration in the Union for the Mediterranean 2025 was produced by OECD Global Relations and Cooperation Directorate (GRC), led by Director Andreas Schaal, and benefited from the financial support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The report was prepared with strategic guidance from Carlos Conde, Head of the Middle East and Africa Division (GRC/MEA). The drafting team was led by Mariarosa Lunati, Senior Advisor (GRC/MEA), and included authors from several OECD directorates: Roger Forés Carrión, Giovanni Di Buono, Sarah Kirby, Ghalia Triki (GRC/MEA); Seda Sevgi, Damla Haciibrahimoglu and Cengiz Arikan (OECD Istanbul Centre); Lisa Andersson with advice from Jean-Christophe Dumont (Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, ELS); Matej Bilik (Directorate for Education and Skills, EDU); Mario Cervantes and Tasuku Sasaki, with statistical support from Kei Kato (Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, STI). Blanca Moreno-Dodson, international expert and former UN Director, and Ahmed Kamaly, associate professor at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to the drafting of Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 respectively and provided advice on trade, finance and connectivity matters across the report. The inputs and advice of Alejandra Medina of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs (DAF); Nadim Abillama of the International Energy Agency (IEA), and Olaf Merk of the International Transport Forum (ITF), were highly appreciated.
The support of Mohammed Elrazzaz, Head of Sector in the Economic Development and Employment Division of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was greatly appreciated throughout the project. The report presents the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the UfM Secretariat or the GIZ/BMZ or the authorities of the countries concerned. The names used in the report to designate any territory, city or area are without prejudice to the official terminology used by the UfM Secretariat.
The OECD readily welcomed the contributions of Casa Mediterráneo, a public consortium led by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, as well as those of CIHEAM Bari, the Italian Headquarter of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, that shared their perspective and experience on the local dimension on regional integration in the UfM.
The preparation of the report involved policy consultations with national and international experts, organised thanks to the logistical support of Nadia Kameleddine, project coordinator (GRC/MEA). The OECD warmly thanks the European Commission Directorate General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA) and the Directorate General for Trade and Economic Security (DG Trade) for their support and contribution during the consultations, along with other participating DGs. The OECD sincerely thanks all those who participated in the policy consultations for their valuable comments. The full list is presented in Annex A.
The drafting team is grateful to William Tompson, Head of the Eurasia Division (GRC/EURASIA), as well as to Umur Gokce, Benoit Dicharry, Stephanie Lizzo, and Hana Aljevic of the Southeast Europe Division (GRC/SEE), led by Marzena Kisielewska for their in-depth review of the draft chapters. The paper also benefited from comments from Jane Stacey and Julie Reimann of the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE); and Silvia Sorescu, Cemre Balaban, and Jane Korinek of the OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate (TAD).
The final report was edited by Chris Marquardt. It was prepared for publication by Meral Gedik and Emily Derry, with the support of Robert Akam, GRC Communications Lead, Sophie Elliott, GRC/MEA Communications Officer. Great thanks go to Mohammed Baraka, Romane Girard, Isha Kowlessur and Kenza Zakarya for their support with the Arabic and French translations.