Local 'co-leadership' key to deliver EU's Mediterranean agenda

Local and regional politicians from the EU and from Mediterranean partner countries met on 4 June to discuss the European Union's emerging New Pact for the Mediterranean and explore how it can better reflect the priorities and concerns of cities and regions, as part of efforts to strengthen cooperation between the EU and its southern and eastern Mediterranean neighbours.

The meeting of the Commission for Sustainable Territorial Development of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), which was held in Brussels, also provided an opportunity for the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and other members of ARLEM to recognise the efforts of bereaved parents from Palestine and Israel to promote freedom, solidarity and equality.

Bassam Aramin from Palestine and Rami Elhanan from Israel, whose daughters were killed in the conflict, one in 1983 and the other in 1997, were earlier this year given 'special recognition' in the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award for their work and the work of their organisation, the Parents Circle Families Forum. 

Speaking in person to ARLEM members, Mr Aramin and Mr Elhanan said to regional politicians: "We don't need you to be pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian. We demand of you to be against injustice, to be pro-peace."

In their legislative work, members also followed up on ARLEM’s efforts to promote a more integrated approach to civil protection. However, the meeting, which was chaired by Joško Klisović, member of Zagreb city assembly in Croatia and Mina Bouhdoud, mayor of Lagfifat in Morocco, was primarily an opportunity for territorial representatives to align around shared priorities – from democratic governance to resilience and sustainable development – as they work to shape the New Pact for the Mediterranean. ARLEM will later this year adopt a report presenting the perspective of regions and cities from the three shores of the Mediterranean and the EU. 

The co-rapporteurs – Arianna Censi (IT/PES), deputy mayor of Milan, and Rama Mohammed El Ezzi, deputy city manager of Amman – said that their report will call for local and regional authorities to be "systematically" involved, as "co-leaders", in developing Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.

The meeting was also addressed, by video, by Nasser Kamel, Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean, which brings together countries from the European Union and the southern and eastern Mediterranean to promote dialogue and cooperation across the region.  Secretary-General Kamel described the Pact as an "opportunity to consolidate… partnership".

Earlier on 4 June, the co-rapporteurs held a stakeholder consultation on the Pact with the participation of Stefano Sannino, the European Commission's Director-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf. The co-rapporteurs engaged with representatives of associations of local and regional authorities across the Mediterranean.

Quotes: 

• Joško Klisović (HR/PES), City Councilor of the Assembly of the City of Zagreb: "The New Pact for the Mediterranean must become the key political instrument for strengthening strategic cooperation with our southern and eastern Mediterranean neighbours. We have a real opportunity to ensure that a territorial perspective is fully embedded in this Pact. Paweł Adamowicz, the late mayor of Gdańsk, carried equality and solidarity in his heart. The award bearing his name honours those who stand up for freedom, for equality, and for peace and justice. I come from Croatia, a country that has endured the trauma of war. I have seen firsthand how violence can breed extremism. But you [Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan], you chose a different path. Your courage, your humanity and your commitment to reconciliation deserve our deepest respect and admiration." 

• Arianna Censi (IT/PES), deputy mayor of Milan and co-rapporteur on the ARLEM report 'Territorial Perspectives for the New Euro-Mediterranean Strategic Agenda': "This report is a political call to action. This report is not just about ideas. It's about power. Local and regional authorities must be co-leaders of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, not symbolically, not occasionally, but systematically. If the EU is serious about building a credible new pact for the Mediterranean, then it must break with a model where local and regional authorities are treated as the leading agent, not a decision-maker."

• Rama Mohammed El Ezzi, deputy city manager of Amman and co-rapporteur on the ARLEM report 'Territorial Perspectives for the New Euro-Mediterranean Strategic Agenda': "The report is structured around the urgent themes that emerged from our work: climate adaptation, civil protection, blue economy, migration, to mention a few. We don’t need more declarations. We need structural change."

• Nasser Kamel, Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean: "As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Mediterranean [Barcelona] process, the new centrality of the Mediterranean in the European agenda, in the elaboration of the Pact for the Mediterranean, can bring leverage to the regional dimension of dialogue and cooperation that the Union for the Mediterranean embodies. Let us seize this opportunity to consolidate our partnership, foster a space where local voices are heard, strengthen our local capacity, and scale up local innovation for regional impact." 

 Background:

• ARLEM and the Mediterranean process: The Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) was created in 2010 by the European Committee of the Regions, as a means of providing a regional and local voice within the broader framework of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The UfM was established in 2008, a result of an initiative in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation launched in 1995 in Barcelona to address cultural, economic, political, and environmental challenges.

• Meeting details: The agenda of the 4 June meeting of ARLEM's Commission for Sustainable Territorial Development can be found here. Photos are available here.

• New Pact for the Mediterranean: The Pact will build on the strategy laid out in 2021 in the EU's New Agenda for the Mediterranean. The European Commission is currently holding consultations with stakeholders ranging from national governments and international organisations to civil society. ARLEM is due to adopt its report – entitled 'Territorial Perspectives for the New Euro-Mediterranean Strategic Agenda' (co-rapporteurs: Arianna Censi, deputy mayor of Milan, and Rama Mohammed El Ezzi, deputy city manager of Amman, Jordan) – at its annual plenary session, which will be held in Palermo, Italy, on 6-7 November. The European Commission is expected to present its proposal for a New Pact for the Mediterranean in the autumn. The next milestone is 23 June, when ministers from the EU's Member States and Mediterranean partners meet. At the ARLEM commission meeting on 4 June, the European Commission presented the Pact as a means of identifying specific implementable initiatives that will provide a framework for cooperation focused on people, on boosting trade and tapping the potential of renewable energy and the digital economy, and on strengthening security and resilience. It will complement existing comprehensive bilateral partnerships with Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, and encourage similar partnerships.

• Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award: The Award was created to recognise the work of local and community leaders to promote freedom, solidarity and equality and to support the legacy of Mayor Paweł Adamowicz, long-time mayor of Gdańsk, who was murdered in January 2019 while carrying out his public duties. The Award is a partnership between the City of Gdańsk, the European Committee of the Regions, and the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). This year's winner of the Award was Vitaliy Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, who received his award in person at the CoR's plenary in February.