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Southern Mediterranean and the Gulf

What the EU does

The EU works closely with its southern Mediterranean partners to promote shared prosperity, stability, and security. Strengthening of our partnerships with the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, and the Gulf remains a strategic priority for Europe. To support this work, the Commission has created a dedicated Directorate General.

We are building on practical cooperation that benefits everyone – from people-to-people contacts, strengthening the economies, to boosting sustainable development, and joint resilience. To achieve this, the Commission brings together a range of policy areas and supports partner countries with the technical expertise and financial support through EU instruments.

Cooperation with the southern Mediterranean includes ten partner countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine*, Syria and Tunisia. Beyond these the EU work covers the countries in the Gulf region (6 GCC countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - as well as Iraq, Yemen, and Iran), with engagement focusing on trade, investment, connectivity, and clean-tech and renewable energy partnerships.

Young girls from the Kufr Yoba Primary School for Girls in Irbid, practicing the principles of framing (copyright: EU MedBridge)
Young girls from the Kufr Yoba Primary School for Girls in Irbid, practicing the principles of framing (copyright: EU MedBridge)

Key figures

More than 23,000 Erasmus+ exchanges between the southern Mediterranean and EU universities (2022-2025)
€30 billion funding leveraged through €7 billion of EU investment in the southern Mediterranean (2021-2027)
19 countries in North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf with which the EU works

Areas of action

Pact for the Mediterranean

New cooperation framework for people-to-people contacts, strengthening the economies, and security across the Mediterranean and beyond

Southern Neighbourhood

Strategic framework designed to foster stability, security, and economic prosperity in North Africa and Middle East

Middle East Strategy

Strengthening partnerships with regional stakeholders to promote peace and stability throughout the wider region and in Europe

Gulf Strategy

Developing a closer, forward-looking partnership with the countries of the region, including through Strategic Partnership Agreements

Global Gateway

Driving investment, supporting projects in infrastructure, energy transition, or cultural heritage in the Mediterranean

Key achievements

  • Global Gateway projects in the southern Mediterranean, backed by an EU financial package of €7 billion, have mobilised €30 billion in public and private investments by the autumn of 2025 - two years ahead of schedule. The Medusa digital submarine cable and large-scale water desalination plants are improving peoples’ lives.  
  • The EU is the biggest provider of external assistance to Palestine* with €1.36 billion for 2021-2024 and €1.6 billion for 2025-2027. The support includes health care, education and social services to Palestinian refugees, and access to water and energy, as well as salaries for civil servants.
  • In 2014, the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syria crisis (Madad) was established to meet the critical needs of more than 5 million Syrian refugees. In 10 years of Madad’s existence, €2.38 billion from donors, including the EU Member States, went into 129 crucial projects to cover basic services for 11 million people in need.
  • The EU supports micro and small enterprises and women entrepreneurs of the region with access to finance. The SANAD Fund has distributed more than €1.4 billion in sub-loans supporting over 445,000 jobs in the southern Mediterranean and Africa.
  • Under Erasmus+, 24 capacity-building projects in vocational education and training were supported in the southern Mediterranean between 2022 and 2025, acting as a driver of sustainable socio-economic development in the region.
  • During the COVID-19 health crisis, the EU mobilised over €2.3 billion of support for countries in the southern Mediterranean. EU cooperation programmes were adapted to support national health systems with protective equipment, training, and hospital assistance.

In focus

T-MED Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy and Clean-Tech Cooperation Initiative

The Middle East and North Africa region holds some of the world’s most abundant and cost-competitive renewable-energy resources. With large-scale wind and solar generation, this region will become a heartland of the energy transition around the Mediterranean. Its potential is estimated at over 2,300 GW, more than twice the EU’s current installed capacity, underscoring the strategic scale of this opportunity.

The T-MED initiative aims to deliver a triple win for the region:

  • inclusive socio-economic development through investment, value creation, skills development, and job creation
  • more energy security and industrial competitiveness via diversified, affordable and renewable energy
  • accelerated decarbonisation through renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen, clean-tech deployment, and cross-border grids.
Read more

* This designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the Member States on this issue.

Related information

This page was last updated on 27 May 2026