Europe, Macroeconomics and macroeconomic policy, MED11, Middle East and North Africa, Trade, economic integration and globalization

The final MEDPRO conference took place in Brussels on February 26th

The Final MEDPRO Conference was organized to share with EU policy-makers and the general public the final scenarios for 2030 and the policy implications and recommendations developed within the MEDPRO project. The event completed the series of High-Level Stakeholders Meetings, previously organized in Tunis in November 2012 and in Cairo in January 2013. The concluding remarks were given by Dr. Anneli Pauli, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission DG Research and Innovation, who expressed full satisfaction with the results of the MEDPRO project.

Three CASE Fellows, Luc DeWulf, Ahmed Ghoneim and Emmanuel Bergasse, represented CASE at the conference. Luc DeWulf presented the key recommendations of various publications prepared within the scope of the project. One of his suggestions was to create an observatory of democratic progress to guide the EC in its support for the MED11 countries, in light of the renewed emphasis on democratic values and the many initiatives undertaken by the EC to support democratic values, human rights and civil society involvement.

The aim of MEDPRO was to contribute to the reform process in the political, economic and social agendas by broadening the level of knowledge on the interplay between a diverse set of challenges and by providing deep insights into the prospected policy options and their outcomes. The researchers aimed to deliver the best available scientific foundation for future policy decisions, as well as new evidence on the long-term outlook, the cohesion between the different aspects of socio-economic development, and the resulting challenges for public policy.