Brussels, 10/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 9 July, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) hosted a delegation of mayors from Libya, with whom the EU has been involved in dialogue since March. The delegation included the mayors of Benghazi, Ghariyan and Sebha, and the deputy mayor of Tripoli, covering most of the political spectrum involved in the current conflict in Libya.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the CoR plenary session and was held under the aegis of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM). It was attended by EU representatives and CoR members, including the mayors of Turin and Catania.
As the meeting opened, CoR president Markku Markkula (who is also the co-president of ARLEM) stated that the establishment of a “horizontal relationship” between elected mayors in Libya would be a “fundamental step” in Libya's transition towards democracy.
The hope is to bring Libyan and European mayors closer together by implementing cooperation that can help Libya's stabilisation. “The instability and weakness of the institutions are a fertile ground for extremism, radicalisation and international human trafficking. That's why the collaboration with the democratically elected mayors of Libya is so important”, Markkula said. “We'd like to initiate a new cooperation dynamic that can help strengthen administrative capacity in order to facilitate Libya's economic, social and territorial development”, he added. At the next annual ARLEM session in January, it will be suggested that the Libyan municipalities become ARLEM members. The issue of migration will be addressed - with migratory flows being a playground for “criminal organisations in several countries bordering the Mediterranean”. The issue “concerns us all” and “goes against human dignity and fundamental human rights”, said Markkula.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini underlined “the leading role that the municipalities can play in the search for an agreement for the end of the crisis”. She spoke of her “admiration” for the fact that the key actors in Libya have “remained in contact” since the first meeting under her aegis in March. Mogerhini hailed the fact that the Libyan mayors have “laid aside their differences in order to talk [between them] and agree on ceasefire measures” and other “significant decisions, such as the exchange of prisoners”. She said she would like the talks that are already under way in Morocco between the various opposing political forces - “which the EU is following closely” - to be able to follow the example of the mayors.
“Now is the time”, Mogherini said, and she expressed her confidence in the future. This meeting “will give you the opportunity to start discussing related issues with your European counterparts - governance, capacity building, e-management useful for decentralisation, and all areas for improving citizens' lives”. And the EU, she said, is ready to support the Libyan municipalities, which are the result of uncontested elections. “We're in the process of providing assistance to Benghazi, for example, although implementing it is complicated by security”, she said.
“We plan to do much more, and we will soon launch an ambitious programme aiming to provide support to a number of municipalities across the whole country on a broad range of issues (including local governance, crisis management and post-crisis planning, economic development and the provision of services). We could do more in partnership with you and where there is peace and security. We are your neighbours. Whatever Libya's fate, your future and ours are linked”, Mogherini stated. (Fathi B'Chir)