Commissioner Šuica participates in the Opening Ceremony of the 26th Annual General Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities

Dear President of the International Association of Mediterranean Universities,

It is a great pleasure to close this first day of the 26th General Assembly here in Split.

For five days, hundreds of you from more than 50 countries will gather here, in the shadow of Diocletian's Palace, to talk about the future of the oceans.

For seventeen centuries, Split has looked out towards the sea.

And for good reason. That same sea made us prosperous.

The Mediterranean makes up only one percent of the world's sea surface.

But about forty percent of the world's maritime goods traffic passes through it.

Energy, food, technology and raw materials cross our sea every hour, between three continents, between some of the most important ports in the world.

This says a lot about our responsibility – your responsibility as scholars, and my responsibility as the Commissioner for the Mediterranean.

Making sure that this trade continues is a strategic priority for Europe, for our partners in North Africa and the Middle East, and for the global economy.

And this priority depends on the people who run its ships, ports, and systems.

It depends on the people who design the rules that keep this commerce safe, clean, and competitive.

In the European Commission we see members of the International Association of Mediterranean Universities as the people who are shaping the future of the Mediterranean.

You train the officers who navigate the ships, the engineers who decarbonise them, and the experts who shape the standards of the IMO and EMSA.

Here I want to speak about education, because it is where Europe can make the most lasting impact.

I know that we, from the European Commission, are giving you a lot of trouble with the new rules.

But we understand that new fuels, automation, cybersecurity and smart ports all need new skills, and that we need to accompany you in creating them.

No country or institution can build them alone.

This is true on all shores of the Mediterranean.