European Parliament President Martin Schulz announced the first high-level meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) since 2011’s Arab Spring will convene April 6 and 7 in Marseille, with environmental concerns in Gaza set to dominate the agenda.
The summit of speakers of the Parliaments of the member countries of UfM, which includes representatives of the national parliaments of EU member states as well as European Parliament members, and founding partners from Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Palestine, as well as Arab Spring subject Tunisia, aims to address the fallout caused from the recent period of “major regional political and economic upheaval”, declared Schulz in a statement, following the popular uprisings that ousted myriad authoritarian leaders from power in the region.
“We also need to re-forge the link between people on both sides of the Mediterranean and respond to their common expectations,” he continued, concluding: “If the challenge of democratic transition which is under way in some Mediterranean countries is successfully to be met, we will need strong and effective parliaments which listen to their citizens."
The forum will bring together around a thousand representatives of civil society, young people, artists, locally-elected officials and economic players from both shores of the Mediterranean, with an opening address delivered by Schulz before an exchange of views by the representative parliamentary speakers and a debate session and adoption of a summit declaration. Israel will be represented by newly-appointed Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, who replaced former incumbent Reuven Rivlin following this month’s marathon cabinet negotiations.
The UfM was formed in 2003 to boost the development of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership as well as adopting resolutions and commendations for its ministerial conferences and monitoring its subsequent actions and projects. Its current objectives centre around the Gaza desalination plant, solar energy, the environment (cleaning up the Mediterranean) and the Mediterranean Maritime Highway for the cooperation between the member countries of the UfM.
The EU adopted the second part of 2013 assistance package for Palestine Wednesday, with a total award of €148 million being granted to the financially unstable Palestinian Authority and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near east (UNRWA) to ensure “the provision of vital services in the area of health, education and social services to the Palestinian people if not interrupted”. The second part of the package follows an earlier grant of €100 in 2013.
Announcing the package, EU foreign policy Catherine Ashton insisted that “addressing the fiscal crisis of the Palestinian Authority requires concerted action by the PA, Israel and the donor community. With this contribution the European Union delivers on its promise to sustain the PA's viability and its ability to ensure essential services for the Palestinian people without interruption. We will continue to support the Palestinian people, including through UNRWA, and urge other donors to do the same”.
The next plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean will be held in Brussels on April 11 and 12.