The sixth informal meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Mediterranean Countries from the European Union took place in Taormina, Sicily. The countries forming the “Olive Group” are Italy, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Slovenia. At the end of the meeting a joint statement agreed by all countries is being issued. The Olive Group members have agreed to strive towards the following objectives :

- the need for a coordinated approach in order to make the Mediterranean perspective more visible within the European Union`s policies and actions.
- the need to translate EU commitments into concrete results, and to set up burden sharing and solidarity mechanisms among member states in immigration matters
- the need for the quick establishment of well functioning institutions within the Union for the Mediterranean and a steady implementation of the priority projects agreed to in Paris.
Malta has acquired one of the five posts of Deputy Secretary Generals of the Union for the Mediterranean composed of 43 member states.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tonio Borg stated that ”We want to reach a political agreement and make it clear that the Mediterranean dimension has to stay on the Union’s political agenda and so we call on the coming holders of the Presidency in 2009 not to forget the Mediterranean. Europe has to speak with one voice and today there is a need to negotiate a European agreement with Libya.”