EU Region-building for Maritime cooperation in the Mediterranean Sea: the EUSAIR and the WestMED initiative

This paper offers an overview of EU region-building strategies in the Mediterranean, with a focus on the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) and on the Western Mediterranean Initiative (WestMED). Both of these strategies include the blue growth among their priorities and ensure the mobilization of various stakeholders at different scales. This paper discusses the contribution that these strategies may offer to activate synergies and coordination among different programmes and funds, in order to make the efforts towards a sustainable management of the Mediterranean Sea more effective. The 2021-2027 programming period of EU funds offers an important opportunity in this regard.