On Tuesday 9 May, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to support a macro-regional strategy for the Mediterranean.
The European Council is invited to present to the Commission a detailed macro-regional strategy for the Mediterranean with a view to its approval during the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second quarter of 2023.
In adopting in plenary the report by François Alfonsi (Greens/EFA, French) on the role of cohesion policy in tackling environmental problems in the Mediterranean basin, MEPs advocated three different but coordinated strategies for the Western Mediterranean, the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The European Parliament considers that a macro-regional strategy “must be based on a solid and representative multilevel governance scheme involving regional and local authorities and entailing the participation of civil society actors”.
Such a strategy can be used, for example, to support circular economy projects, combat plastic pollution, protect biodiversity or strengthen relations with third countries to combat illegal fishing (see EUROPE 13172/20).
The European Parliament recalls that overfishing and destructive fishing practices “remain a threat to the survival of many species” and expresses concern about “illegal bottom trawling inside Mediterranean marine protected areas”.
“Europe can no longer remain passive in the face of the continuous declines seen in this ecologically fragile area”, commented the rapporteur, Mr Alfonsi, at the time of the vote. He considered that these declines are still worsening due to global warming, to which the Mediterranean is particularly vulnerable.
“Climatologists estimate that its impact will be 20% stronger there than elsewhere in Europe”, he added. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)