Brussels, 30/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - One year on and it is time for ARLEM (Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly) to draw the first conclusions. From the start of 2011, ARLEM gave its full support to the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and to more orderly change in Morocco.
ARLEM sees itself as the kingpin in bringing about key changes. A young, often highly qualified population is crying out for employment. The call has also gone out for prosperity, in part generated by cooperation with the EU, to be spread to less-favoured regions, fettered often by circumstances more political than geographical. One year on, ARLEM - and its main project manager, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) - has put in place a contact network with national authorities and now with regional authorities.
The ARLEM plenary session in Bari on 29 January will discuss the concrete action plan on the basis of reports which the delegates from both sides of the Mediterranean will debate.
Without stating it openly, ARLEM leaders appear to be certain that the real Euro-Mediterranean dialogue will be in their hands, far from the political jousting on the institutional nature of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). Over the course of the last year, while the UfM has struggled to get started, “dialogue has often been through local authorities”, pointed out COR President and ARLEM Joint-Chair Mercedes Bresso in an interview she gave to Agence Europe.
Agence Europe: One year after the eruption of the “revolutions”, concern has been voiced that more should be done for the less-favoured regions. What has been the reaction of the Committee of the Regions and, in particular, of ARLEM?
Mercedes Bresso: For ARLEM members, the changes taking place at the moment represent an opportunity to strengthen relations and find new partners in local communities - particularly as the move to greater democracy experienced in several countries bring with it strong pressure for decentralisation.
Tunisia is a perfect example. In December, we met ministers and local administrators, all working hard on putting in place a new regionalised institutional architecture. In their efforts, they will be able to count on the awareness and unconditional support of the Committee of the Regions and ARLEM.
In Bari, what the Tunisian and Egyptian delegations have to say will let us see how, acting in concert with local authorities, we can support the fundamental changes taking place in these countries.
Our support will be through concrete choices, for example, extending the Covenant of Mayors to the southern rim of the Mediterranean as this will increase opportunities for cooperation in key sectors such as sustainable development.
Local development is crucial to embedding democracy. Action in areas like energy, water and waste management creates jobs, boosts economic growth and encourages public spiritedness, while improving the quality of life and opportunities for citizens.
AE: Where does ARLEM stand in Euro-Mediterranean dialogue and in relation to the UfM which has more or less ground to a halt?
MB: The political instability in the region and the financial crisis dominating the European agenda have certainly made the UfM's work more difficult. However, in sensitive times, dialogue was often through local authorities. For example, in relations with Eastern Europe before 1989, mayors and locally elected representatives were the only ones who kept dialogue alive and undertook the first forms of cooperation.
2011 was, then, a very busy year of cooperation for us, in terms both of bilateral projects and at institutional level. The reports on the agenda of the Bari meeting are the result of a year of work in the ARLEM thematic committees in which southern Mediterranean local and regional authorities have made decisive contributions. I'm thinking, for example, of the work done of SMEs led by the mayor of Rabat. It is for these reasons, too, that the UfM has granted ARLEM a larger role, as demonstrated by other initiatives such as the Strasbourg inter-ministerial meeting on urban development, a matter highlighted by the Agadir plenary session.
Just as fundamental has been the report on water management, the conclusions of which led to the setting up of a platform of local and regional authorities, which will be among the stakeholders at the World Water Forum in Marseilles in March. At the same time, ARLEM is strengthening relations with the European Commission and EU agencies.
Elsewhere, in addition to the Covenant of Mayors, cooperation links have been created through the European Training Foundation. Despite everything else, it is crucial that governments, which are almost totally absorbed with the euro crisis, again turn an attentive eye to the south of Europe.
The EU can and must play an active role alongside the millions of citizens and local communities which have taken charge of their destinies, often at serious risk to themselves and at the cost of huge sacrifice. (FB/transl.rt)