The General Secretary of BUSINESSMED, Mrs Jihen Boutiba attended as a speaker in the Euro-Mediterranean Summit of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions which took place in Madrid, Spain, on the 13th and 14th of December 2017. The summit gathered 120 participants including representatives of employers’ organizations, trade unions, civil society, economic and social councils and other similar economic and social actors from the Union for the Mediterranean countries. This Euromed summit focused mainly on three topics: Economic, Social and cultural rights in the Mediterranean region, a social protection floor in the Euro-Mediterrean Area and a new generation of women’s rights.

During the summit, Mrs. Jihen highlighted the progress of the South Med Social Dialogue project- SOLiD, a pilot project that aims to strengthen capacities among the social partners, civil society and governments’ actors to project a sustainable and a stable institutionalized social dialogue in Tunisia, Morocco and Jordan. During her second intervention, Mrs. Boutiba commented about the Social protection floor in the Euro-Mediterranean Area.

The participants unanimously adopted a final declaration which condemns all forms of violence and terrorism and the infringement of fundamental rights in the Mediterranean region. It also urges the EU institutions to design an efficient and flexible mechanism to ensure the safe and legal arrival of refugees. Meeting participants also expressed their serious concern at the recent marginalisation of civil society organisations and violence towards their staff and called on all governments to guarantee freedoms of expression, association, collective bargaining and peaceful demonstration. Also the declaration recognizes the value of the ongoing SOLiD project in promoting social dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean region and recommends the extension of the project to other Mediterranean countries.