The climate will be at the heart of the meetings of the 7th Summit of Speakers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM) held in Brussels in a hybrid format on Friday, 3 December, and Saturday, 4 December.
Representatives from the European Parliament, the 27 national parliaments of the Member States, and 15 partner countries will discuss, as equals, some of the most pressing consequences of global warming and environmental change for their respective countries. The Mediterranean region is warming 20% faster than the rest of the world.
Margarida Marques, the S&D coordinator for this assembly, told EUROPE, “The European Parliament, which presides over the Parliamentary Assembly this year, decreed that the climate must be given top priority”.
Asked about the choice of the climate [as the priority topic], the MEP explained that climate has an impact on the economy, energy transition, and people’s mobility.
“The aim is not to identify goals but to understand how the climate is involved in the region and how, by working on climate [issues], we can have an impact at the economic level, the social level, etc.”, she added.
Meetings of the Committees on Political Affairs, Economic Affairs, Energy and Environment, Women’s Rights, and Improving Quality of Life will be held on Friday. These committees will make recommendations, the common thread of which will be the climate.
On Saturday, the Parliamentary Assembly will meet in plenary session and adopt the declaration of this Summit of Speakers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the UfM. This session will also mark the occasion of the European Parliament handing the PA-UfM’s rotating presidency over to the Moroccan Parliament. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)