In the course of his lecture, Florensa described the role of the IEMed in building cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Florensa explained that 1995 saw the launch of the so-called “Barcelona Process”, which “attempts to create an area of prosperity and cultural exchange among the diverse areas of the Mediterranean region”. The process facilitated the formation of an association between Spain, Portugal, Malta, France and Italy on one side of the Mediterranean, and Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria on the other, and creating the 5+5 Group, defined by Florensa as “an informal alliance of countries that aims to address issues like structures and interregional links, and foreign policy in general”.

The Director-General of the IEMed explained the difficulties that have arisen within the process and the planned free trade area over the years. The process, according to Florensa, has been hampered by the Middle East conflict, though “Tunisia and Morocco have concluded the interim period and now have a free trade area”.

Florensa defined IEMed’s two action principles as “a variable geometry for a given policy, in other words, the means to reach agreement among two or three countries”, and “closer cooperation in order to be able to apply European policy instruments without the need for all the countries to take part”.

Finally, the speaker described the progress made in recent years, as well as the current situation and some likely future scenarios.

Florensa was Spanish ambassador to Tunisia from 2000 to 2004, Spanish Consul-General in Berlin from 1992 to 1996, and First Secretary of the Spanish Embassy at UNESCO in 1986. He also served as Director-General of the Institute for Cooperation with the Arab World, the Mediterranean Region and Developing Countries (ICMAMPD) in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as Spanish Secretary of the Spanish-Moroccan Averroes Committee from 1996 to 2000. Florensa held office in the government of Catalonia as Secretary-General for Trade, Energy and Tourism from 1986 to 1989, and for Territorial Policy and Public Works from 1989 to 1992.