Portugal and Mauritania, as co-presidencies of the 5+5 Dialogue, Spain as host country, the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and Casa Mediterráneo co-organised the event.
The 5+5 Dialogue, was officially launched in Rome in 1990 as an informal sub-regional forum which main aim was to foster relations and cooperation between European countries and the newly born Arab Maghreb Union. Since then, further high-level conferences have taken place involving sectorial issues such as Migration, Defence, Transport, Tourism, Education, or Environmental Issues and Renewable Energy, among others.
Following the last Summit of the Western Mediterranean Forum, held in Malta on 5-6 October 2012, the Heads of State and Government of the 10 countries mandated the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean to organize the first Economic Forum of the Western Mediterranean in Barcelona in 2013.
The 5+5 Dialogue comprises the following countries: Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia.
(Source: EU Neighbourhood Info)