Brussels, 08/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - Vincent Peillon (S&D, France), who is rapporteur on the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), together with other MEPs - Françoise Castex (S&D, France), Franziska Brantner (Greens/EFA, Germany), Christian Preda (EPP, Romania) and Ivo Vajgl (ALDE, Slovenia) - calls on the Commission and on High Representative/Vice-President Catherine Ashton to propose the creation, by the end of 2011, of a Euro-Mediterranean Erasmus programme to promote the transnational mobility of students of both sides of the Mediterranean and, also, to create by the same date a Euro-Mediterranean Leonardo da Vinci programme to promote mobility of young people wishing to acquire vocational training abroad.
In their written declaration submitted to Parliament, MEPs regret that the number of Mediterranean beneficiaries of such programmes is so low. The programmes, they say, are major successes of the edifice of Europe. They also point out that the southern rim of the Mediterranean has been experiencing unprecedented developments that the European Union should accompany with new initiatives. (F.B./transl.jl)