Brussels, 13/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was held in Brussels on Monday 12 November under the chairmanship of Martin Schulz, who is the president of the European Parliament and president-in-office of the group, which is made up of representatives from UfM member countries. These representatives include MEPs, national European MPs and representatives from the countries of the southern rim of the Mediterranean.
The defining moment of the session chaired by Schulz with the other members of the Bureau (the presidents of the House of Representatives of Morocco and of the Portuguese parliament) was the participation by the main players in Euro-Mediterranean policy, in this instance Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and co-president of the UfM, and the other co-president, Nasser Judeh, Jordan's Foreign Minister, and Fathallah Sijilmassi, UfM Secretary General, in the presence, notably, of EIB Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine Vive. By its very configuration, the meeting thus took on the guise of a “mini summit” for the Mediterranean, although no common political body can claim to meet for now, given the lack of political understanding in a troubled regional context. The personalities present saw the meeting as being a step between two phases; that of the re-establishment of the UfM after the standstill it has marked since 2008, and that aimed at henceforth ensuring full operation in the initiation of projects for the region.
Schulz also marked his determination to give the parliamentary body a consistency that it has hitherto lacked. The Joint Parliamentary Assembly has not resolved all its problems and it is necessary to reflect on this, Schulz admitted, noting, however, that things work better in technical committees, which take place with more composure than the others. Their first duty, some would say, is to ensure a better democratic functioning. The group of MEPs (all with clear political leanings) tends to impose points of view “en bloc”, ideas conceived and decided within the European Parliament to the detriment sometimes of the two other groups representing national EU parliaments and those of the Mediterranean rim. It was Schulz's aim to give fresh momentum to the parliamentary body, beginning with increased coordination. A secretariat general will be formed with a “rotating” mission, linked to the presidency-in-office, currently held by the European Parliament.
In addition to the technical and operational aspects, Monday's meeting served to demonstrate the resolve of parliamentarians, both European and national, and that of the direct players (the co-presidents) to commit the UfM to a new phase in proceedings, after that begun early this year to prise it out of its political and institutional rut. The UfM secretary general said the UfM of 2012 is no longer what it was in 2008, taking the view that EU accession to the co-presidency has put an end to an unstable and paralysing situation. The effort needed will call for strong mobilisation by all Euro-Mediterranean space partners. A “EuroMed Parliamentary Summit” will be held in Marseilles on 7 April 2013 with closure of the EuroMed Civil Society Forum. The joint Assembly will then hold its annual plenary session (11-12 April) which will no doubt provide an opportunity for its structures to be renewed (chairs and co-chairs of committees and members of the Bureau). However, Sijilmassi said, the joint Assembly does not have any executive powers and cannot set out directions to follow and, as such, it above all plans to work in support of the secretariat general to which he gives his explicit support.
The same was said in turn by Catherine Ashton and Nasser Judeh, the two co-presidents. Ashton, who was particularly pleased to note the achievements of this first renewed start-up of UfM, called for them to work together on long term, concrete projects without forgetting short term constraints. She placed emphasis on the major infrastructure projects (trans-Maghreb motorway, energy transport from South to North) and congratulated the UfM secretariat general on this, wishing Sijilmassi every success and saying he has the European Community's support.
In addition to the technical aspects and operational aspects, Monday's meeting appeared to serve to demonstrate the determination of MPs, both European and national, and of director players (Co-Presidents Ashton and Judeh and Secretary General Sijilmassi) to move onto a new phase in order to invest more for the future of UfM, as Schulz said during a final press conference. The UfM, he said, is an essential project for ensuring peace, security and stability in a region that is prey to deep upheavals.
Schulz pointed out that a declaration on Syria will be published immediately after the meeting of the enlarged Bureau (i.e. Bureau plus committee chairpersons) which took place immediately afterwards. On Tunisia, the president of the European Parliament simply noted that it takes more time than we thought to draft a Constitution. (FB/transl.jl)