Tangiers, 25/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The fifth plenary session of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (known by its French acronym, ARLEM) started work in Tangiers (Morocco) on Monday 24 February with the satisfying observation of having reached the age of majority and being recognised by all of its institutional partners, the EU as well as the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) and its member states, as a privileged player.
“I am delighted to note that our joint ambition is as strong as it was when we created our Assembly, despite the crises (…) which our respective countries have not been spared and which have particularly affected the local authorities and given us, as local representatives, increased responsibilities”, said the Spanish joint president Ramon Valcarcel Siso, who is also President of the Committee of the Regions of the EU, opening the discussions. Alongside him was the Egyptian joint president Ali Abderrahmane, Governor of the Province of Gizeh.
“We must acknowledge the unstoppable movement in the South of the Mediterranean and of the required change of approach” which Europe must show. The new approach must take account both of challenges and of new hopes, added Valcarcel Siso, to allow us to “enter a phase of making our commitment a reality on the ground” by means of new working methods and through the recognition of the increased role of the regions, by the EU as well as by its partners, some of which (in particular Tunisia) have included in their fundamental laws a duty of decentralisation and promotion of local democracy in order to guarantee effective cohesion policies.
One of the ways of doing this would be to set in place macro-regions, such as those in place around the Danube, the Baltic sea and currently being created in the Alpine and Adriatic regions. The idea of a “5+5” macro-region (Western Mediterranean) is taking shape for an area of close cooperation between the Maghreb and the five neighbouring European countries which are already committed to concrete inter-governmental cooperation, although the framework for this remains informal. “In this way, we intend to contribute to establishing an integration approach”, the European joint president explained. The procedure should be in place before the next session and the debates have shown the need for caution in making use of European experience because, as Luc Van den Brande (Belgium), a member of ARLEM, pointed out: “We are not above criticism and shortcomings” in the European cohesion policy. Italy's Mercedes Bresso, Deputy President of the Committee of the Regions, drew attention to the risk of “segmenting” the Mediterranean, when Euro-Mediterranean policy is designed to be “global”.
The reflection is set to continue between now and the next session but, in the meantime, ARLEM plans to increase its involvement in the policies which directly concern the Mediterranean as a whole or its sub-regions, aside from the aspects of economic development, in the fields of energy, the environment and migratory flows. The Assembly is now a direct player, which has active observer status in all the work of the UfM. One of the focuses will be to contribute towards increasing “local capacity” to establish this acknowledged increased role of the regions. (FB/transl.fl)