Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-18-Speech-3-148"
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"en.20090218.21.3-148"2
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs Napoletano, first allow me to congratulate you on the work done, since it has allowed a report to be produced that is genuinely important on several levels.
However we also know, of course, that, faced with the most worrying situation in the Middle East following the war in Gaza – we discussed this today – we do indeed have a problem: we cannot leave the Union for the Mediterranean in a political vacuum. It is what we have always said. Indeed, it is a fact.
This has given rise to the current suspension of the work that, personally, I regret greatly, but, of course, we hope to get to work again at some stage. The meeting to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, where the Commission will, of course, have an important role to play as cosponsor, will be very important. I hope that various other meetings will be held afterwards. A lot of work has been done already, in fact, and when the Commission is working, it takes it very seriously.
Moreover, much has been done on the rules governing the secretariat which are in place and which should allow Barcelona to start its work.
Firstly, because it is a truly positive and constructive contribution from the European Parliament to the definition of a coherent Euro-Mediterranean policy, a challenge to which we are deeply committed.
Then, as you rightly point out, the Union for the Mediterranean must be supplemented. It must not be purely intergovernmental, but must be rightly supplemented by opening it up to the participation of other players, such as local and regional authorities. It is important to intensify the parliamentary dimension by reinforcing the role of the Parliamentary Assembly, and to establish a lasting involvement for civil society.
It is true the Union for the Mediterranean’s role is to develop the joint nature, at an institutional and political level, of a regional partnership in need of a relaunch. However, it is all also true that this can only be done on the basis of the Barcelona
which needs to be extended and consolidated.
Regional cooperation financed by the Commission is part of this
. There is, therefore, no reason to call it into question today. On the contrary, it supports and guarantees the coherence of the European Union’s action in the region, especially as its objectives are perfectly compatible with the ambitions of the European neighbourhood policy, the main framework for our bilateral relations with the countries of the region.
The same is true for compliance with Community methods applied to the mechanisms for making decisions and setting priorities within the European Union, as the Union for the Mediterranean is an initiative that forms an integral part of the European framework.
Mr President, the constituent summit of the Union for the Mediterranean had, as you know, the triple objective of reinjecting political vigour into Euro-Mediterranean relations, of changing the institutional governance of these relations in favour of a joint leadership of the initiative and, finally, of crystallising multilateral cooperation between the European Union and its Mediterranean partners around structural projects, which will bring sub-regional integration and are likely to reduce the discrepancies in development between the two sides of the Mediterranean.
Indeed, we must reduce these discrepancies via social economic development, more trade and increased investments. We must counter ideological radicalism, for which the lack of development and a sense of injustice provide fertile ground, with dialogue and political solutions to conflicts. We must pursue responsible and concerted migration policies, as you said, to benefit from demographic stabilisation in Europe and the demographic growth of the Mediterranean countries. There you have several examples of the challenges we must face together with our partners in the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Indeed, we know that we cannot achieve these objectives without parliamentary support, both from the European Parliament and the Euromed Parliamentary Assembly. This is the spirit in which we are working, with the firm conviction that, on all these issues, the European Commission will be able to rely on your collaboration, and I would like to thank you for this in advance."@en1
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