The Euro-Mediterranean Assembly of Local and Regional Authorities (ARLEM)

Gestart door arriset, 15/05/2010 om 15:04:37

arriset

The Euro-Mediterranean Assembly of Local and Regional Authorities (ARLEM) seeks tangible action

As the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) nears the end of negotiations on its structure and work programme, local and regional representatives have not let the grass grow under their feet. Over seventy local and regional representatives from thirty countries around the three shores of the Mediterranean met in Barcelona today, Thursday 21 January, for the inaugural meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Assembly of Local and Regional Authorities (ARLEM). They called on EU Commissioner, Pawe? Samecki, and Spanish State Secretary, Ángel Lossada Torres-Quevedo, to ensure an "inclusive process" and to give "priority to tangible action".

"Our belief is that the Union for the Mediterranean must not fall into the trap of Barcelona, restricting itself to traditional diplomatic relations. We therefore offer our commitment at grassroots level, geared to implementing practical projects through the contributions of the regional and local authorities that strive on a daily basis to improve quality of life for our fellow citizens. Our goal is to give the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue one further chance so that the specific projects put forward in Paris a year ago can be achieved", declared Luc Van den Brande , president of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), who was elected co-president of the new assembly at this meeting. "What ARLEM needs is a grassroots structure that can operate independently of the international political context." He added: "ARLEM is being set up today as an autonomous body, but its purpose is to serve the UfM â€" hence our request, once the UfM's internal structure and organisational arrangements are in place, to contribute to its work as an observer, following the Barcelona summit of June 2010."

Mohamed Boudra, mayor of Al Hoceima, who was also elected co-president at this inaugural meeting, took the floor and noted the current "plethora of bilateral initiatives to promote development. But they suffer from lack of coordination." He continued: "We are convinced that, in order to be sustainable, national strategies on both sides of the Mediterranean must be bolstered through local and regional authority involvement in defining and implementing cooperation strategies." He then outlined the work programme that ARLEM members had set themselves: "In 2010, our activities will focus on four areas: urban and territorial development, decentralisation, the information society and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. ARLEM members, with their regions and local authorities, have committed themselves to twinning and decentralised cooperation initiatives in these areas." The work programme is included in the conclusions (adopted by the assembly.

"We have a responsibility today, as regions and local authorities, to send a message of optimism to the second summit of the Union for the Mediterranean, to be held in June 2010 in Barcelona. Fifty years of European integration have shown that the principle of subsidiarity, genuine subsidiarity, which takes regional and local governments into account, is the best way to face up to common challenges. We must not wait another fifty years, not even another ten or even five years, to decide that this is also the best way forward in the Euro-Mediterranean region." concluded José Montilla , president of the Government of Catalonia, as he welcomed this inaugural meeting to Pedralbes Palace, which is also the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean.

In conjunction with this inaugural meeting, ARLEM's two co-presidents will meet the UfM secretariat to examine arrangements for ARLEM's formal recognition as the second pillar of the process, alongside the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.

>> http://eulib.com/euro-mediterranean-assembly-local-regional-authorities-arlem-8485

http://www.theparliament.com/policy-focus/regions/regions-article/newsarticle/euro-mediterranean-partnership-starts-work-in-barcelona/