Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-20-Speech-4-009"
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"en.20100520.3.4-009"2
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"Mr President, it is my pleasure to address you today on the Union for the Mediterranean and the report prepared by Mr Vincent Peillon. This valuable contribution by the European Parliament is particularly timely as it outlines some of the key challenges facing the Union for the Mediterranean in the months to come – and, by the way, Mr Peillon, I fully agree with the introduction to your report on that debate.
If we put into place practical projects, such as access to water, food and energy sources, and improved civil protection capabilities, it will be in the interest of our peoples.
The Union for the Mediterranean is about placing people, entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations, universities and, above all, young people at the forefront of civil society, cooperation and economic development. Better involvement of the citizens should also be accomplished by means of the full participation and involvement of elected representatives.
This is why the Commission firmly believes that a vibrant and strong parliamentary dimension reinforces the democratic legitimacy of the partnership. The role of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly should be further consolidated and its work better articulated with the other bodies of the partnership.
We all want the Union to work, and we all know it will be judged on its ability to deliver concrete projects for the region. The energy interconnections, the motorways of the sea to connect southern Mediterranean port facilities with European ones, and the Mediterranean solar plan are areas of considerable potential in terms of investment, job creation and enhancing trade relations. If we want to tap that potential, we need the private sector and the major financial institutions to work hand in hand. And for this to happen, we need one catalyst, and that is the secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean.
After several months of hard work by the 43 Euro-Mediterranean partners, we eventually managed to adopt the legal status of the secretariat, to appoint the secretary-general and to approve a provisional budget for the functioning of the secretariat. At the heart of our relations with our Mediterranean partner countries is our desire to promote security, growth and stability in the region. But there is also the abiding conviction that we are taking part in an even more ambitious project: building a region of peace and affirming our common goals and values.
I am sure that together with the commitment of the European Parliament and with the parliaments of the European Union Member States and of our partners, and with a strong impetus from the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, we will rise to this challenge.
With the Treaty of Lisbon now in force, the European Union now has an enhanced and more cohesive institutional identity and a mandate to act more effectively on the world stage. At the same time, most Mediterranean governments have pursued an ambitious agenda of economic reforms, and the European Neighbourhood Policy is transforming relations between the European Union and its Mediterranean neighbours.
Since 2004, political contacts have increased in profile and intensity. Trade has increased at double-digit rates aided by a steady process of liberalisation and regulatory convergence. European Union assistance has been tailored to partners’ reform needs and its volume in the current financial framework has increased substantially.
This is what we have achieved in our bilateral relations. However, in the Mediterranean, even more than elsewhere, our network of bilateral relations between the European Union and individual Mediterranean neighbour countries needs complementing with South-South integration and cooperation and the creation of a truly regional economic area. Regional integration can make as important a contribution as national reforms to boosting investment and growth, reducing the wealth gap between Europe and its Mediterranean neighbours and, alongside this, ensuring greater convergence around our shared values and in our democratic practices.
South-South integration and intra-regional integration projects, such as the Agadir free trade agreement, are also key to creating the five million jobs which are needed every year to meet the needs of the region’s young population. The launching of the Union for the Mediterranean in Paris in 2008 gave a new impetus to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, made a strong bid for co-ownership and shared responsibility through a co-presidency system, put more focus on concrete projects, and provided a technical secretariat to promote regional integration and spur investment.
As we all know, its implementation has been slowed down by increased tension in the Middle East, but there has been progress with the launching of the proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. There is now space for cautious hope that the political circumstances in the region may become more conducive to cooperation.
Against the background of major global challenges such as the international economic and financial crisis, climate change and energy security, the Union for the Mediterranean will have to deal with the political situation in the Middle East, launch the operational functioning of the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat and take stock of progress made by the partnership since July 2008.
It is an opportunity for a collective reformation of our commitment and political will to create an area of peace, stability and shared prosperity in the Mediterranean. To achieve this, the partners should also look specifically at the future development of the Union and at what it can deliver on the ground in terms of projects, jobs and growth.
The Mediterranean area is extremely dynamic, and the young generation are asking for more jobs and better opportunities. They are asking for more accountability and a democratic representation, better education and easier mobility to travel and to study. Their demands are not always easy to meet, but ultimately, they should be the beneficiaries of our collective action."@en1
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