COPPEM promotes local and decentralised cooperation and development by pursuing the objectives set out in the Barcelona Declaration (1995) through the European Union's financial instruments.
Institutional representatives of the local and regional authorities of the signatory countries of the Barcelona Declaration, and of those who join the Union for the Mediterranean, are members of COPPEM.
The operational bodies of COPPEM are: - the General Assembly - the Presidency Council - the President and Vice-presidents - the Secretary General COPPEM identifies four priority areas for its action: • international relations and migration; • political-institutional area, equal opportunities, human rights and youth; • culture, innovation and sustainable development; • programmes and projects.
On the basis of these priority areas, COPPEM members can act by proposing new initiatives and participating in the various activities that the Secretariat develops and carries out.
2020 was a pivotal year for COPPEM membership, with the four-year deadline for the renewal of international delegations that join, free of charge, the organization.