The first, MEDUrbs, is intended to improve the quality of life in urban areas, promote the development of local democracy and, most important of all, decentralized cooperation between local authorities in Mediterranean non-member countries and such local authorities and their counterparts in the European Union. The second, MED-Invest, is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, with the main goal being to facilitate the exchange of information and contacts between potential partners by making available to SMEs in the Mediterranean non-member countries existing Community instruments and programmes originally created to assist European ...[+++] SMEs.

Five MED programmes were financed: MED-Urbs aims to improve the living conditions of urban populations, reinforcing and generalizing democratic practices at the local level; MED-Campus supports decentralized cooperation projects managed by networks of universities in the northern and southern Mediterranean; MED-Media aims to create high-level media networks, and MED-Invest to promote an environment which favours small and medium- sized undertakings.

Starting along this path in 1992, the Commission has now set up a raft of decentralized cooperation programmes with key players in civil society such as the universities (Med Campus), the media (Med Media) and local authorities (Med Urbs), or in specific fields such as investment (Med Invest), migration (Med Migrations) or technology transfer (Med Techno).

Economic instruments such as BC-Net, the Euro-Info-Centres, Europartenariat and Med-Invest will help to foster economic cooperation. As part of the Med-Invest programme, a Med-partenariat is to be held in Israel in 1994.

Whether it is by means of the "training of trainers" through Med-Campus, the search for common solutions to common urban problems through Med-Urbs, the development of management and manufacturing skills in small and medium companies through Med-Invest or the upgrading of journalistic skills and media production techniques through Med-Media - each programme contributes to strenghtening economic and social development in the MNC.

The others are MED-URBS, MED-CAMPUS and MED-INVEST involving town councils, universities and small and medium-sized industries, adopted in November 1992.