On the 1st of July, the President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and ASCAME, Dr. Josep Santacreu, led a high-level institutional mission in Brussels (Belgium), marking an important step forward in the relations between the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and the European Union institutions.
The delegation held meetings with the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Ms. Dubravka Šuica, with several members of the European Parliament, and with the Director General of Eurochambres, aiming to establish ASCAME as the leading representative of the private sector in implementing the Pact for the Mediterranean, approved in November 2025 by the European Commission to strengthen cooperation and economic connectivity in the Mediterranean.
During the meeting with Commissioner Šuica, President Santacreu introduced ASCAME as “the oldest business network in the Mediterranean and the main trusted interlocutor of the private sector of the European Union in the region”, reaffirming the association’s commitment to a strategic, long-term alliance with the European Commission to drive the development of the new Pact for the Mediterranean. Dr. Santacreu delivered a clear message: “If Europe wants to build real shared prosperity with its Mediterranean neighbors, it has to rely on businesses. They’re the ones creating jobs, investment, innovation, and opportunities on both sides of the Mediterranean”.
For her part, Commissioner Šuica, accompanied by Mr. Francisco Gaztelu, Director of the European Commission in the Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA), highlighted the strategic role of the private sector for the success of the Mediterranean Pact and stressed the importance of working with representative organizations like ASCAME to ensure effective implementation of this new European initiative.
The delegation included the presidents and representatives from several ASCAME member Chambers of Commerce, including Mr. Sekib Avdagiç (Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Turkey), Mr. Moncef Ben Jemaa (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tunisia, Tunisian Republic), and Mr. Gaetano Attilio (Cagliari-Oristano Chamber of Commerce, Sardinia, Italy), who shared with the commissioner the economic and business priorities of their respective countries, reinforcing the Mediterranean dimension of the mission.
The institutional agenda also included meetings with the Vice President of the European Parliament, Mr. Javi López; MEP Laura Ballarín; and the teams of the rapporteur for the Pact for the Mediterranean, Mr. Nicola Zingaretti (S&D), and the shadow rapporteur of the European People’s Party (EPP) Group, Mr. Massimiliano Salini.
The mission helped advance two strategic goals: strengthening ASCAME’s recognition as the representative voice of the private sector on both sides of the Mediterranean before European institutions and consolidating a working alliance with the European Commission and the European Parliament to actively contribute to the implementation of the Pact for the Mediterranean.
During the various meetings, ASCAME advocated for the need to place the private sector at the center of the new European strategy towards the region and reiterated its willingness to collaborate in priority areas such as business cooperation, connectivity, skills development, innovation, and competitiveness.
President Santacreu also highlighted ASCAME’s unique representativeness, which brings together more than 130 Chambers of Commerce from 18 countries and represents millions of companies on both sides of the Mediterranean: “Chambers of Commerce are the natural bridge between institutions and businesses. We want to contribute to making the Pact of the Mediterranean deliver tangible results for the economy, employment, and the shared prosperity of the region”.
As part of the visit, the president of ASCAME also held a meeting with Mr. Ben Butters, Director General of Eurochambres, to explore new ways of collaboration between the two organizations. Dr. Santacreu emphasized ASCAME’s strong presence within the Eurochambres ecosystem and pointed out that closer cooperation will allow them to “amplify the voice of Mediterranean businesses at a decisive moment for the region’s future”, especially with the Eurochambres Annual Congress coming up next September in Valencia.
Likewise, the President highly appreciated the work carried out by the European Parliament regarding the Pact for the Mediterranean, particularly the contributions included in the Zingaretti Report and the amendments promoted by the Socialist and Democrats groups and the European People’s Party. In his opinion, “ASCAME brings the voice of thousands of Mediterranean companies and SMEs to European institutions and wants to be an active partner in turning the Pact for the Mediterranean into a true strategy for growth, investment, and shared prosperity”.
On this institutional mission, President Santacreu was accompanied by Mr. Xavier Coronas, Secretary General of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Koussay Boulaich, Senior Diplomatic Adviser to the President of ASCAME; Ms. Anna Terrón, ASCAME advisor; and Ms. Miriam González, ASCAME’s General Coordinator.