Tunis, 19/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), meeting in Tunis on 18 March used its third session to focus on cultural dialogue and the need to create genuine understanding among the peoples of Europe and the Mediterranean basin. It also gave its support to increasing its own role, in parallel to structured cooperation carried out by EU and partner country governments. Nearly all contributions underlined that EMPA currently constituted the only meeting structure for all neighbouring countries, especially those experiencing conflict. Four Knesset deputies were also at Tunis. Palestinians and Israelis have held discussions with Palestinians at the EMPA since it was set up, creating the impression of “parliamentary diplomacy”, which the new president of the Euromed Assembly, Anna Benaki Psarouda, wants to priorities during her presidency year, which kicked off the session.
The debate on inter-cultural dialogue, also at the centre of the debate, on the initiative of EP president, Hans-Gert Pöttering, sums up the general feeling expressed by Secretary General of the Arab League, according to which, the lack of such a dialogue would mean that everyone would lose. The session was also marked by a debate on the Middle East situation, the very day when the new government of national Palestinian unity was subject to a vote of confidence by the Legislative Council (see other article). The almost unanimous conviction is that the EU and the international community have to help political stabilisation in Palestine. A very large majority of deputies present called for the lifting of the boycott imposed on the Palestinian Authority because of Hamas' refusal to recognise Israel. The Israeli delegation, however, warned against any complete opening up, which it judged premature. The same delegation also expressed reservations about is participation in the special session proposed by Egypt (likely to be in Cairo in June) to debate the general situation in this zone. Support was given in principle by the other delegations.
EMPA also adopted, by consensus, a series of recommendations including different suggestions in political, economic, financial (creation of a regional bank) and social areas, the fight against terrorism and the promotion of women's rights. As well as the contents of the non-binding texts, the central concern was how to develop ways for this assembly to work and which had just got over is “growing pains” crisis. The biggest disagreement, informally and formally, was the absence of clear rules and procedures. The need for a common “parliamentary culture” could have spared numerous “session incidents, according to general opinion, as well as the lack of inspiration, as Jamila Madeira (PES, Portugal) representative of the European Parliament at the economic committee, put it, and put some order into parliamentary committee debates. Concluding his inaugural address to the session, President Pöttering also stressed that one of the main tasks for the new President of the EMPA, Anna Benaki Psarouda, President of the Greek Parliament, would be to work on bringing order to the joint institution. The mandate of the working group on the regulation and funding of the EuroMed Assembly has been extended for one year to work on this.
The absences of the European Commissioner (a speech was read out by a member of the Cabinet of Benita Ferrero-Waldner) and of Javier Solana, who had been invited to the meeting, were openly criticised by the outgoing president of the EMPA, Tunisian member Fouad Mebazaa. Mr Solana came in for particular criticism for apparently crying off at the last minute, and also because he has not turned up to a single meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly.
At the opening of the work, the Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister, Abdelwahab Abdallah, expressed his country's commitment to the Barcelona process and its desire to build close and confident relations between both sides of the Mediterranean. Removing the disparities of development is an “essential condition if we are to consolidate the prosperity and stability of the region”, he said, adding that “the rise in the phenomena of extremism, violence and xenophobia” and “the rise in tensions and conflicts mean that the governments, the Parliament and the people must work harder to reinforce dialogue”. Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, also pleaded for a “new vision” given the intensification of “war-like noises”. Mr Moussa formally requested that European restrictions against the Palestinian Authority be lifted and launched an appeal in favour of a nuclear weapon-free Mediterranean. For Lebanon, he recommended an end to the crisis in such a way that “there are no winners and no losers”. Mr Moussa stressed the commitment of the Arabs to undertake reforms, voiced his support for the Spanish-Turkish initiative on the dialogue of civilisations and welcomed Malta's initiative for a Euro-Arab Summit.
Speaking on behalf of the German Presidency of the EU, Günter Gloser, the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, spoke of the “ambitious programme” developed by Germany in the framework of the Barcelona process, based around the role of the media and civil society. He also pleaded in favour of a concrete social dialogue and of reinforced cooperation in various fields of common interest (migration, universities, youth, education and energy). He welcomed the forthcoming inter-Parliamentary cooperation, in parallel to dialogue between the governments of the euro-Mediterranean area. The UAM Secretary-General voiced the awareness of the Maghreb countries to “rely, first and foremost, on their own resources”. Habib Ben Yahia hoped for the inclusion of Mauritania, a member of the UAM, in the Barcelona process.
In his speech, Hans-Gert Pöttering reiterated the positions of Europe, and of the European Parliament in particular, on various subjects of concern in the region, referring to the encouraging sign of the active participation of Israelis and Arabs in the EMPA, this institution having been called upon to “play a decisive role in Barcelona process”. The president of the EP welcomed the idea of a special session given over to the Israeli-Arab conflict, but warned that “in this debate, nobody must feel isolated”. The issue gave rise to a somewhat uneven debate in the meeting of the ad hoc group, to the point at which the session ended up being held behind closed doors.
Immediately after the opening of the session, the Assembly got into a debate on the central subject- intercultural dialogue- with the general conviction that this should not be limited to a dialogue on religion. The rest of the day was given over to an examination of the various recommendations proposed by the three parliamentary committees (political and security, economic and cultural, social and human rights) and by the ad hoc committees or working groups (EUROPE will return on these debates). Ms Benaki Psarouda closed the session with the presentation of her Presidency programme, stating her hopes that the EMPA will “gain in weight and consistency, to bring a positive influence to bear on the national governments, which are a reflection of the people”. Her credo will be to increase “Parliamentary input” to the Barcelona process.
On the sidelines of the session, a number of bilateral contacts were taken up. President Pöttering held talks with local authorities and took part in a colloquium on Euro-Mediterranean affairs, which was organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Tana De Zulueta (Italian Green Senator) and President of the cultural committee of the EMPA, Hélène Flautre (group of European Greens) and Beatrice Patrie (PES) took part in a conference on Thursday evening, organised by the LTDH (Tunisian League for Human Rights), whose functional difficulties have been flagged up by the EP. For its part, the EPP-ED group held talks with the RCD, the party in power in Tunisia. (fb)