Brussels, 18/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The 3rd EU-Morocco Joint Parliamentary Committee, which met in Brussels, on 13 July, welcomed the “significant progress” towards democracy in the North African country and at the same time called on Morocco to commit to making democracy a reality. It encouraged the organic law provided for in the new constitution, adopted by referendum on 1st July, to be put in place swiftly and effectively.
In addition to assessment of domestic political developments, the meeting allowed views to be exchanged and brought forward recommendations on issues of pressing importance: the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and funding of bilateral and regional cooperation, migratory policies and security in the Sahelo-Saharan region.
The elected representatives were convinced that the difficulties in the Euro-Mediterranean project process were not only financial and institutional but were also and especially political in nature. The general consensus was that the UfM as a body could not take the place of the United Nations in settling regional conflicts. While the conflict with Israel could not but be mentioned, others, such as in the Sahara, had also to be broached, argued French S&D MEP Vincent Peillon, rapporteur on the UfM.
Elected representatives from both sides called for the effective relaunch of the UfM and saw in the appointment of new Secretary General Youssef Amarani a strong political signal of Morocco's commitment. They invited him to make institutional proposals to speed up implementation of definite UfM projects. They suggested, in particular, strengthening the Secretariat's independence of movement, member states' making available the financial and human resources as quickly as possible, and increased recourse to variable geometry.
The Joint Committee called for a second heads of state and government summit, to be devoted to the relaunch and reform of the UfM, focusing the debate on how to inject fresh impetus into the project taking account of the new situation in the region. Among the recommendations were: setting up programmes such as the Erasmus and Leonardo schemes, a mobility policy and the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean bank. While noting the budgetary efforts announced by the EU, the elected representatives hailed the key role played by the European Investment Bank and especially FEMIP, the largest investor in the Mediterranean. They also noted the intention to involve the EBRD in Mediterranean policy, particularly in Morocco. They were concerned, however, about competition problems and overlapping in the action undertaken by the two institutions which might have a detrimental effect on project funding, and called for a Euro-Mediterranean co-development bank to be set up. (F.B./transl.rt)