The nine European member states that border the Mediterranean Sea will talk more about energy than migration at their annual summit in Alicante on Friday.
When Giorgia Meloni first visited Brussels in early november, it was said that the new Italian prime minister was cautious and constructive. The European ministers and state secretaries for Migration – an important symbolic dossier for the Radical Right-Wing Meloni – may think differently.
However, the migration issue may not be addressed when Meloni makes a blitz visit to the Euromediterranean summit in Alicante, Spain, on Friday. This is the annual meeting of the nine European member states bordering the Mediterranean Sea: Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Cyprus and Portugal. The fact that the latter country does not border the Mediterranean Sea is apparently a detail.
However, the migration issue may not be addressed when Meloni makes a blitz visit to the Euromediterranean summit in Alicante, Spain, on Friday. This is the annual meeting of the nine European member states bordering the Mediterranean Sea: Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Cyprus and Portugal. The fact that the latter country does not border the Mediterranean Sea is apparently a detail.
“With the new submarine gas pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille, Spain hopes to play a more important role in the energy debates. “
According to Spanish media, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will do everything to avoid the migration elephant in the room if he meets Meloni just before the start of the summit on Friday. The likelihood of clear positions being taken on the issue at the summit would also be slim.
What is it about in Alicante? Energy: the European member states must reach an agreement on an adjusted price ceiling or correction mechanism for gas by Tuesday. In addition, Spain, France and Portugal are also formally putting the green light on the construction of BarMar, a new submarine pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille.
With this new leadership, Spain and Portugal in particular hope to be able to play a greater role in the energy debate. While a previous gas project over the Pyrenees was not a great success, BarMar is being proposed as the ‘green corridor’ that should mainly bring hydrogen to Europe in the long term. But in a first phase, BarMar should mainly help to transport natural gas from North Africa to Europe, which is feverishly looking for alternatives to Russian gas.