Florence, 06/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - In a political position adopted at its 43rd general assembly in Florence, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) issued a call on Thursday 5 November to the international community to deliver a global integrated response in the Greater Mediterranean zone to ensure peace and resolve regional conflict. A large number of regions felt that the mass influx of refugees should be better managed, representing, as it does, a huge opportunity.
“If your house is flooded because of your washing machine, two things have to be done: you have to mop up the water and, alongside that, repair the machine”, President of the CPMR and of the Government of the Azores Vasco Cordeiro told a small group of journalists to illustrate how, in his opinion, Europe should respond to the present migration crisis. Very much in this spirit, the CPMR urged EU member states and institutions to show greater solidarity with the regions around the Mediterranean that are directly affected by the migratory flows and to re-assess EU migration policy.
More concretely, the CPMR calls for legal migration channels, for economic migrants, too, to be put in place through bilateral agreements and significant improvement in integration policies. This could come about by encouraging self-employment, through micro-enterprises, and developing micro-credit which would be more useful than job seekers' allowances.
Lastly, the CPMR calls for the regions to be more closely involved on European decision-making on migration policy and action to be taken. This approach is close to that of Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Commissioner Christos Stylianides, who pointed out at the general assembly in Florence that humanitarian aid alone could not resolve the crisis or end conflicts and that a more global approach was required.
Action at regional level must be dual, argued CPMR Secretary General Eleni Marianou. Firstly, the structural and investment funds have to be re-jigged allocating some to crisis management. This is something being considered by Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu (see EUROPE 11397). However, this approach is not supported by a number of regions, since the prime purpose of these funds is to support the economy and growth. “New problems need new funds”, that would reduce the need for re-allocation of ESI funds, argued Marianou. Secondly, bilateral agreements have to be strengthened to make the most of regional cooperation and launch definite initiatives.
A boon for rural areas. To know how best to respond to the migration crisis, “the CPMR is the ideal place to share and spread best practice”, Marianou said. Regional initiatives are many and numerous but remain little known, she said. One example, provided by a speaker at the general assembly, is that of the region of Tuscany which has put in place a policy for sharing out migrants across its territory “without adversely affecting family, ethnic or cultural ties” to “avoid creating any ghettos and repopulate the countryside”.
This crisis is also seen as being of great benefit for the Spanish region of Catalonia which has informed the Spanish government of its willingness to take in almost a third of the refugees relocated to the country to breathe new life into the rural economy. The region of Valencia would like to charter a ship to bring migrants safely from the Aegean islands and settle them on its soil, putting forward the same argument of a planned model to address rural depopulation. However, these plans have yet to be approved by the government in Madrid which, some say, remains very reluctant. The approach is mirrored in the north of Sweden, where refugees have been placed in small villages. “Paradoxically, it's easier to integrate small groups of migrants into small towns and villages than into cities, where poverty and the impression of large numbers regularly result in feelings of rejection and waves of xenophobia” a Swedish participant at the CPMR general assembly told EUROPE. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)