The 5+5 Dialogue is the designation adopted for the Western Mediterranean cooperation process, launched in 1983 by France in 1983, with the aim of:
- Strengthen
political dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest to the
countries in the western of the Mediterranean region;
- Promote the
economic development of the Maghreb.
It involves 5 countries in Europe, on the
northern shore of the Mediterranean (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta)
and 5 countries of the Arab Maghreb Union, on the southern shore of the
Mediterranean (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia).
This cooperation process has sectoral
formations, in addition to general coordination, within the competence of the
MFA. In addition to Home Affairs, Defence and Foreign Affairs, the 5+5 Dialogue
also covers cooperation in the sectors of Transport, Tourism and Environment/Renewable
Energy.
Conferences of Ministers of the Interior of the Western Mediterranean
Countries (CIMO)
The highest-level cooperation in the 5+5
Dialogue on internal security is based on the Conferences of the Ministers of
the Interior of the Western Mediterranean Countries (CIMO). CIMO's mandate is comprehensive
in the area of internal administration and has so far included aspects of
security, migration, borders, civil protection and local authorities.
CIMO has a markedly informal character, as is
the nature of the 5+5 Dialogue, where it fits, assuming itself as a forum for
political debate. As a rule, a final declaration is adopted at the end of each
conference, which adopts the name of the host country city that hosted the
meeting, setting out the guidelines and priorities for action until the next
CIMO takes place.
In these ministerial meetings, working groups
have been launched in different areas considered relevant by CIMO: terrorism;
organised crime; movement of persons and fight against illegal immigration; the
training of police officers; civil protection and local administration.
The CIMO Presidency shall be exercised on the
basis of the identification of the availability of each country for this
purpose, provided that such availability is accepted by the other partners of
the Dialogue. The country holding the CIMO Presidency in a given year hosts and
organises the CIMO meeting that year.
Portugal held the CIMO Presidency in 2000 and
2015. The 16th Conference of Ministers of the Interior of the Western
Mediterranean held in Lisbon on 19 May 2015 resulted in the Lisbon Declaration,
reaffirming the commitments made in Algiers and introducing road safety as a
new dimension in cooperation between the ten Mediterranean countries. |