Brussels, 08/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - The speakers of the parliaments of the countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), meeting in Marseilles on 7 April, said they were in favour “of further strengthening the role of the UfM”. They stated, however, that they were “concerned at the lack of political commitment to and financial support for the ambitious projects envisaged at the UfM summit”. They are convinced that “governments on both shores of the Mediterranean must step up their efforts significantly if they are to meet the legitimate expectations of the people to live in liberty and dignity and bring about human, social and economic development that is sustainable and based on solidarity”.
Meeting at the initiative of Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM), the speakers of the parliaments of the UfM stated that they were “concerned at the scale of the challenge of democratic transformation in the southern Mediterranean countries and of the economic and financial crisis affecting the EU Mediterranean countries, and at the risk of insecurity and instability in the Sahel-Saharan region”. In Schulz's opinion, the “cooperation between the European Union and its Mediterranean partners in the context of the UfM must place all the partners on an equal footing and must be carried out in the service of all the partners”.
The speakers also insist in their joint statement on “a spirit of mutual respect and mutual interest” that should characterise this cooperation. The role of representative democracies and civil societies is emphasised, and the speakers also stress that local and regional authorities “have a key role to play in supporting the development of sustainable territorial planning policies which take account of local circumstances”. The speakers affirm their commitment to promoting regional integration in the southern Mediterranean. In addition, they say that instruments of co-development are essential in order “to eradicate terrorism and its links with cross-border organised crime”.
While supporting the UfM, the speakers agree in their statement that the “visibility of the UfM cooperation framework should be enhanced”. They also note the commitment taken by the UfM to make 2013 “the year of projects”, and they call on the governments “to provide the necessary funding and to honour the commitments they made at the UfM summit in Paris 2008 and as part of the Deauville partnership”. They call for the creation of a development bank for the Mediterranean, believing that “the needs in terms of infrastructure and support to SMEs in the region” are “considerable”.
Citizens of the Mediterranean. The city of Marseilles (France), in collaboration with the Anna Lindh Foundation, last week hosted a meeting of citizens for the Mediterranean. The meeting was noteworthy for both its cultural and political dimensions. Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle attended the meeting and reiterated the EU's support for civil society. In his opinion, the recent events can be considered “a historic opportunity both for our partners and the European Union to progress towards a neighbourhood of stability, peace and prosperity”. “The lesson of history is that we cannot have sustainable stability, true and solid partnership and real prosperity without democracy, good governance and inclusive growth. (…) We are trying to move from rhetoric to reality, from assertion to action in a rapidly changing world”, Füle stated. (FB/transl.fl)