Newsletter – n°19 – February 2013

The world at a glance

With the occasion of the fourth plenary session of the Assembly of Regions and Cities of the Mediterranean (ARLEM), the ARLEM members reaffirmed their commitment in favour of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation; thus, the promotion of regional cooperation, the consolidation of decentralisation and institutional capacity building at local level are the three priorities that will guide the activities of the assembly during the following months.

These issues are addressed in the ARLEM annual report, concentrating on the territorial dimension of the Union for the Mediterranean. The report concentrates on three domains: the consolidation of decentralisation and regionalisation; actions aiming to guarantee that the UfM priorities integrate a territorial dimension; and the contribution to the development of a macro-regional strategy and of a cohesion policy in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

While Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis management underlined the crucial responsibility of local and regional authorities as change catalysts, Michel Vauzelle, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, vice-President of FOGAR and co-President of the Sustainable Development Committee of ARLEM, called upon local and regional governments on the two sides of the Mediterranean to maintain the solidarity relationship which national governments, shaken by the economic crisis in the North and the political crisis in the South, are having a hard time maintaining.

Francisco de la Torre Prados, Mayor of Málaga, representative of the CEMR and member of the ARLEM Board, underlined the difficulties that Spanish local and regional governments have in maintaining their commitment level in international cooperation. In this respect, he called for local economic development to be reinforced in collaboration with the private sector, and for investments to be realised in flourishing sectors, such as tourism, for example.

Moreover, two thematic reports were submitted to the plenary assembly for adoption: one on the technical education and professional training in the Mediterranean, and another on the promotion of sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean. You can find all the reports adopted on the website of the Committee of the Regions.