Brussels, 18/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EuroMed Parliamentary Assembly (under the French acronym, APEM,) is meeting in extraordinary session on 20 and 21 November in Rabat to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona Process. It is expected to adopt a recommendation that will be submitted to the first summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Euro-Mediterranean area, on 28 November in Barcelona. The special APEM session was initially scheduled to be held in Ramallah, a symbolic location, but several political objections and practical difficulties meant that Josep Borrell, President of the European Parliament and President-in-Office of APEM (until March 2006), finally chose the Moroccan capital. The three parliamentary committees that make up the EuroMed Assembly (political and security, economic, and cultural and social affairs) have each prepared reports that will serve as a basis for debates intended to assess progress over the ten years since the Barcelona Process came into being, before adopting the recommendation to be forwarded to the summit.
Officially established in December 2003 by the EuroMed ministerial conference in Naples, APEM replaced the parliamentary forum, a simple framework for consultation between parliamentarians from partner countries. Established in March 2004 in Greece, the Assembly held a first ordinary session in March this year, in Cairo. To date, it is the only joint institution created in the context of the Barcelona process. For now, its role is only consultative but its 240 members (45 MEPs, 75 national European parliaments and 120 partner countries) aspire to make it a democratic instrument to monitor developments in EuroMed dialogue. The question of the Assembly's competence and opinion on the democratic and human rights situation in the Mediterranean has often given rise to difficult discussions within the political committee. At economic level, follow-up to implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation is a priority and APEM has established a working group to examine the feasibility of the Euro-Mediterranean bank project. At cultural and social level, the Anna Lindt Foundation (after the name of the Swedish Foreign Minister assassinated by an unbalanced person) was set up, and parliamentarians also plan to make the subject of immigration a priority.
Since the creation of APEM, discussions have mainly focused on its own functioning, Arab states not wishing it to exercise any right to interfere in political matters. The representatives of the European parliaments, which have their own consultation framework, have often highlighted the need to improve working and consultation methods. A meeting of the presidents of national European and Mediterranean parliaments will be held in Barcelona on 25 and 26 November at the initiative of Manuel Marin, Cortès President.