Welcome to the MEDSTAT programme

Welcome to MEDSTAT, the regional statistical co-operation programme between the European Union and 10 Mediterranean partner countries including: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

The European Union's policy toward the Mediterranean region is largely shaped by the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (Barcelona Process) established as a result of the Barcelona Conference held in November 1995. The Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs marked the starting point of this partnership, resulting in a wide framework of political, economic and social relations between the Member States of the European Union and partners of the Southern Mediterranean.

The MEDA programme is the principal financial instrument of the European Union for the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership. The programme offers technical and financial support measures to accompany the reform of economic and social structures in the Mediterranean partner countries.

In the area of statistics, European Member States and Mediterranean partners have intensified their relations since 1996. Financed under the MEDA programme, these relations are bundled within the MEDSTAT regional statistical co-operation programme. The statistical co-operation programme was launched in 1996 and aims at comparability and harmonisation of statistics in different statistical sectors.

Special attention is paid to coherence, harmonisation and dissemination of data in the following statistical sectors (priority sectors):

With a EUR 20 million budget, the first phase of the MEDSTAT programme (MEDSTAT I) was carried out from December 1996 until March 2003 and covered several statistical sectors.

MEDSTAT II was launched in 2006 for a duration of three years and with a total budget of EUR 30 million. It covers 9 sectors, continuing the work carried out during the first phase while also starting activities in the following three new sectors: social statistics, agriculture and energy.

The EU's enlargement on 1 May 2004 brought two Mediterranean partners (Cyprus and Malta) into the European Union, while adding a total of 10 to the then 25 Member States. On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU. The Euro-Mediterranean partnership thus comprises 37 members, 27 EU Member States and 10 Mediterranean partners (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey). On the European side, the EFTA is Eurostat's partner in the MEDSTAT programme.

Financed by the MEDA Regional Information and Communication programme, the EuroMed Info Centre aims at making the MEDA Regional Programme and the EU's partnership with the Mediterranean countries more visible.

On its Website, more information is available on the European Neighbourhood Policy's Southern Dimension, the EU’s partnership with the Mediterranean countries and the MEDA programme.

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was developed in 2004, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbours, instead strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all those concerned. This new policy reinforces the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, while using all its institutions and mechanisms. It applies to the EU's immediate neighbours by land or sea, including all the Mediterranean partners except Turkey.

A strategic framework for programming the regional Mediterranean allocation of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) is drawn up in a Regional Strategy Paper. The Regional Strategy Paper 2007-2013 channels the contents of the five-year work programme into three priority objectives to be implemented at a regional level:

• A common Euro-Mediterranean area of justice, security and migration
  cooperation;
• A common sustainable economic area, with a focus on trade liberalisation,
  regional trade integration, infrastructure networks and environmental protection;
• A common sphere for socio-cultural exchanges, with a focus on cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and on the raising of awareness of the Partnership through the media.

The Regional Indicative Programme 2007-2010 transposes this policy response into concrete action programmes.