On Tuesday 25 April, regional representatives from across the Mediterranean, Members of the European Parliament and representatives of the European institutions met in Brussels to give political impetus to creating a Mediterranean Macro-Regional Strategy.
The stakeholders in question signed a declaration (https://aeur.eu/f/6mn ) of the “Friends of the Mediterranean Macro-Region”.
The Government of Catalonia organised this event to promote and launch the Mediterranean Macro-Region, with the participation of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and the government of the southern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
The launch of the “Friends of the Mediterranean Macro Region” initiative aims to build momentum in the run-up to the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU to bring the project to fruition.
“The Mediterranean is unique”, said Raquel Gallego Torres, Coordinator for External Affairs at the Junta de Andalucía, for the Presidency of the CPMR Intermediterranean Commission: “All the territories bordering it share common challenges but also a rich potential. A Macro-Regional Strategy would allow to harness that potential while increasing cohesion in the basin, allowing an optimisation of resources and efficient action in benefit of the whole area”.
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted an opinion on the issue in October 2022. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)