Brussels, 04/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - “The Mediterranean should not be forgotten by the EU”, says Artur Mas, President of the Generalitat de Catalunya and President of the Inter-Mediterranean Commission (IMC), who chaired the Conference of the Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) at its general assembly in Barcelona on 27 and 28 June.
Mas called for there to be greater awareness of the potential interest of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. The great challenge today is to pay more attention to the resource-full southern territories of the Mediterranean Basin in order to encourage regional cooperation. The stakes are important for the Mediterranean regions of the EU. Mas pointed out during his speech that there was a need for a “macro-regional approach” that is “supported by all the regions” around the Mediterranean. “We must develop initiatives, including financial initiatives, that can contribute to the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises and stimulate growth and jobs”, he said. The regions of Tuscany, Catalonia, the Peloponnese and others are jointly committed with the EIB and the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) to devising “pilot projects”.
The president of the Tuscany region, Enrico Rossi, CPMR Vice-President, took the view: “We have to take things much further. We need to ask the EU to give to the Mediterranean the same attention as that paid to the countries of eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall”.
A political statement was the outcome of this work which is mainly focused on the maritime dimension of the Mediterranean zone, in particular on renewable energies and energy efficiency, water, transport, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and youth policies, an authorised source said. (FB/transl.jl)