Brussels, 13/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - Development for dignity and a fair distribution of resources and growth by and for all, territoriality to be closer to citizens, globalisation: it is an the cross-over of these three key issues that debate at the second International Convention for a territorial approach to development, in Tangier from 12 to 14 May (see EUROPE 9649) will be situated. President of the Region of Tuscany, of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and the Forum of Global Associations of Regions (FOGAR) Claudio Martini opened the discussions which will involve some thousand participants from five continents and 56 states. Participants expressed their concern about growing poverty and recommended not only more effective decentralised cooperation and grass roots democracy, but also a comprehensive European strategy of the Mediterranean. Among those present at the opening session of the Convention on Monday 12 May were the Moroccan Minister of State Mohammed El Yazghi, His Excellency Bruno Dethomas, Ambassador and Head of the European Commission Delegation to Morocco (and former Commission spokesman), Abdelhadi Benallal, Chairman of the Tangier-Tétouan regional council, and Nour-Eddine Boutayeb, Director General of Moroccan local authorities. Also taking part were representatives of the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the OECD.
The President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region Michel Vauzelle said he thought that a strategy for the Mediterranean was essential “urgently, with the very serious risk of rupture between the north and south of the Mediterranean”. He went on “There is economic, social and environmental urgency. The EU must not continue to give 40 times more aid to eastern European countries than to Mediterranean countries. The very future of Europe depends on the Mediterranean and the future of the Mediterranean depends on Europe”. Vauzelle added that it the setting up of a committee or council of the Euro-Mediterranean regions should be considered. “Such institutional recognition is a necessity,” he felt. He asked, “Will we be taken over by globalisation to does politics still have some use in the world of today and tomorrow?” He concluded, “Let us rethink grass roots democracy with the United Nations, national states, regions and local authorities”.
Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner stressed that “without regions and without local involvement the problems created by globalisation cannot be resolved”. Companies were searching for regions to invest sustainably at local level, so there has to be confidence between the social partners, she noted, stating that “changes have to be seen in a globalised business environment”. European cohesion policy could be a “source of inspiration in other countries. Multi-governance and having civil society represented in the various policies is a sign of democracy. We call on third countries to decentralise and to strengthen local and regional structures, because it is important for these regions. What she wants is to “spread a model of economic development which takes account of the social risk by helping our neighbours in this area”.
Martini drew attention to, “Globalisation, one of the most frequently used words in political, cultural and economic debate today”. He noted that, a few years ago, there were the arguments between the “globophiles and the globophobes, one set announcing great success, the other denouncing the inevitable damage globalisation would cause”. He wondered what could be hoped for from the debates in Tangier. Stating that there had been “steps forward” since the launch of the first International Convention for a territorial approach to development in Marseilles 15 months ago, Martini said he had to say more about three. (1) The most operational: new synergies in cooperation among European regions and other regions of the world. The first examples were in Morocco, Haiti and in other regions through the UNDP Art Gold programme. “We will work on these cases because we want to learn lessons, spread good practice which puts an end to scattering aid and one-off projects, and in this we will be working worth the UNDP, the OECD, the development banks and continental and sub-continental groups”'. (2) Political discussion: promoting the territorial dimension, “because there is no development possible, no good use of available resources without the involvement of the people concerned”. Martini said that, at world level, there should be “a territorial agenda just as there are social or environmental agendas”. (3) The institutional aspect: to obtain the best results, significant changes on the ground and improve the lot of fellow citizens, the rules of the global game “must be acceptable”.
Claudio Martini has announced in this connection that a summit on the Regions of the World will be held (29-30 October 2008 in Saint Malo, France) focusing on climate change. The summit aims to produce proposals for Kyoto 2 negotiations. President Martini said that he was convinced that there would be a 3rd Convention and proposed that it be held in 2010 in one of the three continents where the first two conferences were not held.
The UNDP director in Geneva, Cécile Molinier, stressed the “extreme urgency and gravity of the correlation between poverty and climate change”. She announced the joint decision of the UNDP and United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the associations from the Northern Forum regions, the International Association of French-speaking Regions and the Assembly of Regions of Europe to prepare, “an ambitious programmes for strengthening the ability of the regions to develop their strategy and action plan on climate change adaptation and reduction”. This programme is expected to be officially launched during the Summit of the Regions in Saint Malo. The announcement of this decision provoked the interest of regional interests, particularly that of Christel Liljeström, the president of the Regional Council of Itä-Uusimaa (Finland) and Keijo Sahrman, the “industrial and regional development” director at the Finnish Association of Local and Regional Authorities”. (G.B.)