Interview with Ambassador Dr John Paul Grech, Deputy Secretary-General, Social & Civil Affairs, Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Barcelona
Hartmut Bühl: Ambassador, in June of this year, the high-level conference “Climate Change, Civil Protection and Human Security – towards efficient Euro-Mediterranean cooperation” took place in Rome. The event was the occasion for the launch of a new Mediterranean programme on disaster prevention, preparedness and response, initiated by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). Could you tell us about the objectives of this programme?
John Paul Grech: This new phase of the fourth Euro-Mediterranean programme, entitled “Prevention, Preparedness and Response to natural and man-made Disasters” (PPRD Med, see box), is in line with an initiative that begun in 2008, when the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was created. Based on the previous programmes PPRD South I, II and III, the basic target is to increase the resilience to natural and man-made disasters in the southern neighbourhood countries and the whole Mediterranean region, by strengthening the links between all relevant governmental actors and civil society stakeholders as well as the scientific community. Reinforcing cooperation and partnership between the EU and Mediterranean countries in this important area is key.
Nannette Cazaubon: Ambassador, you are the Deputy Secretary-General of the UfM, an intergovernmental Euro-Mediterranean organisation bringing together the 27 EU Member States and 16 countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean. Could you tell us about the specific role of the UfM in PPRD?
P. Grech: The UfM, currently co-chaired by the European Commission and Jordan, acts as a relay and amplifier of the EU’s strategy towards the countries of the south. Nonetheless, the UfM is also developing its own roadmap and an action plan, which builds, among others, on the activities and outcomes of PPRD Med. We form part of the programmes steering committee and bring forward the work results of our regional civil protection dialogue platform, in liaison with DG ECHO. We can safely say that we have established a virtuous circle around the theme of civil protection in the Mediterranean basin.
Bühl: Two other initiatives were launched in parallel in Rome: a multi-country disaster risk landscape study and an external technical on-site assistance (OSA). How do these initiatives complete the PPRD Med programme?
P. Grech: All three new programmes, initiated by DG ECHO and followed in particular by its Unit B1 – International Cooperation, are remarkably complementary. The multi-country study, led by the Italian Dipartamento de la Protezione Civile, lasting 36 months and with a €2.5m budget, will carry out a comprehensive analysis of the disaster risk landscape in the targeted regions to find out where the main national, cross-border, or regional risks are and help identify the capabilities and the gaps in addressing them. Furthermore, the study will provide priorities for future actions, programmes and partnerships in the southern and eastern countries benefitting from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA).
Cazaubon: And the On-Site Assistance (OSA) project?
P. Grech: The third project consists of the contractualisation of a regional expert for the southern countries and one for
the eastern neighbourhood. Both posts are funded by DG ECHO with a total budget of €2.2m for a duration of 36 months.
The main objectives of the OSA are fourfold: firstly, support the partner countries’ respective civil protection authorities with on-site technical assistance (meetings, workshops, trainings); secondly, support partner countries in building sustainable capacities for disaster risk prevention, preparedness and response, based on a multi-hazard approach and interactions with the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM); thirdly, strengthen technical cooperation at sub-regional and regional level between all relevant governmental actors and civil society stakeholders as well as the scientific community; and fourthly, enhance technical, institutional and operational cooperation in the southern neighbourhood countries and IPA III beneficiaries under the UCPM.
Bühl: At the Rome conference, the UfM Secretary-General, Nasser Kamel, made a strong statement about climate change in his keynote speech. Does it mean that the UfM is striving for a climate protection flagship programme? Is the UfM planning something similar like the European Union’s Green Deal?
P. Grech: The UfM has a mandate that gives it a transversal vision of the themes on which it works with its 43 member countries and the partners of its regional platforms, projects and networks. The division in charge of climate action within the UfM has created a network of experts, the MedECC (Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change), which in November 2020 published a first Mediterranean assessment report entitled: “Climate and Environmental Change in the Mediterranean Basin – Current Situation and Risks for the Future”1. Civil protection draws on this work to improve the UfM countries’ capacities to adapt to the effects of climate change inherent in the southern countries but also already impacting certain European countries. Flash floods, wildfires, palm trees fires, locust invasions or dust storms are just a few recurring examples of climate change effects.
Cazaubon: Indeed, at the time of our interview, fires are raging in Greece, Italy, Algeria and Tunisia. The countries of the southern Mediterranean, including, inter alia, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Malta, have mobilised to assist Greece.
J.P. Grech: Right, and in this respect, the UfM fully ensures its important role as a regional space for the exchange and sharing of experiences and good practices on both shores of the Mediterranean. We also want to find ways to work towards pooling our capacity response resources, in synergy with the UCPM.
Bühl: Ambassador, what are your expectations ahead of the fourth meeting of the UfM’s Directors-General for Civil Protection to be held in on 18-19 October 2023 in Spain, four years after the last edition of February 2019 in Barcelona?
P. Grech: This year will be the first time that this major meeting is being organised back-to-back with the meeting of the Directors-General of the EU Member States and participating states of the UCPM. This constitutes a strong political and operational message that will be held symbolically in Valencia, on the border of the Mediterranean. My expectation is that the meeting will highlight this Euro-Mediterranean identity, considering its basin as a zone of common and shared risks, with stakes on both sides, north and south.
H. Bühl: Ambassador, we would like to thank you for this interview.
