Newsletter – n°23 – September 2013

Headlines

The PLATFORMA seminar for local and regional governments (LRGs) of the Maghreb discussed the new Communication of the European Commission, the role of LRGs in the post 2015 development agenda, national legal framework and possible evolution towards decentralisation, gender equality and finally the regional and city to city dimension of development cooperation.

Pierre Schapira, Deputy Mayor of Paris and PLATFORMA spoke-person and Carles Llorens I Vila, Director General for development cooperation for Catalonia and PLATFORMA spoke-person, underlined the practical nature of city to city and region to region development cooperation and welcomed the fact that the new EC Communication recognises local and regional authorities as political actors.

In the opening session Pierre Baillet, Permanent Secretary of AIMF, reminded about the complex relations between Europe and the Maghreb and the EU’s responsibility in promoting sustainable development and decentralisation in this region.

Ambassador Rupert Joy, Head of the EU Delegation to Morocco, explained that the new communication commits the EU to support dialogue between the different levels of governments and better and more transparent services at the local level.

Finally, Abdelmonim Madani, Deputy Mayor of Rabat, recalled that the Arab Spring, as a process of democratic reform, must include local democracy as a building block of national democracy.

The seminar was organised at the eve of the UCLG World congress, thanks to the support of the AIMF, the city of Paris, the AFCCRE, CPRM, FEMP, the Diputacio of Barcelona and UCLGA, the African section UCLG.

For more information on the seminar and on the content of the sessions please write to platforma@ccre-cemr.org.