Brussels, 03/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - Euro-Mediterranean Economic and Social Councils (ESCs) and similar institutions, meeting in Alexandria (Egypt) on 18-19 October, called, in their final statement, on governments to put in place and to consolidate, at national level, structured dialogue mechanisms to ensure that civil society players are consulted in order to encourage transparency in decision-making. They said that, to achieve this goal, the institutional profile of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation network of Economic and Social Councils and similar institutions had to be raised and that the network should be made a consultative body of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). They said their discussions centred on issues linked to the role and involvement of civil society in the UfM, the consequences of the economic and financial crisis, an economic and employment strategy built on a knowledge society, climate change in the Mediterranean, demographic and cultural changes and the creation of national economic and social councils in the Euro-Med partner countries.
Taking stock of past action, they noted that networks, projects and programmes set up under the Barcelona Process were still there and highlighted their vitality and the asset that they were.
Economic and social representatives concentrated their exchanges of view on the consequences of the economic and financial crisis on the Euro-Med region. They called on governments to encourage public and private investment and to stimulate consumption, especially of green and environmentally friendly products. They took the view that recovery would come through increased promotion of integration and regional cooperation and through development of entrepreneurship, while supporting small and medium-sized companies and promoting cooperatives and other forms of social economy. They called for social and employment policies to be put in place and for the role of women to be given more emphasis.
They also discussed the issue of climate change and the Mediterranean, and the environmental and energy challenges posed: the Mediterranean region, they said in their statement, was particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, linked to water scarcity and increased desertification, urging immediate action on the serious issue of food security, ensuring food autonomy and putting in place ambitious, coordinated policies to meet the challenge of an extremely serious situation. They were critical of the lack of consistency of environmental and sustainable development policies in the Mediterranean region and recommended a common approach for the countries of the UfM. The 2010 work programme that was decided during the meeting is built on three major lines: training and employment conditions; business support policies; and issues of migration. (F.B./transl.rt)