WRITTEN QUESTION E-1755/02

by Hugues Martin (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 June 2002)

Subject: Euro-Mediterranean partnership

The commitment of certain cities to fostering cooperation between cities in Europe and cities in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries is one of the wellsprings of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership's dynamism.

For example, within the Eurocities network, the city of Bordeaux has succeeded in setting up a working party dedicated to this type of cooperation. This working party has drafted a document entitled the Euromed Pact which, along with a political declaration from the mayors of the cities involved, was presented by Mr Alain Juppé, deputy mayor of Bordeaux, in Barcelona on 22 February 2002.

The European Parliament gave its support to the Euromed Pact in its Resolution C5-0128/2002 of 11 April 2002 on the Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament to prepare the meeting of Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Ministers at Valencia on 22-23 April 2002. The Ministers approved the Euromed Pact as part of the Action Plan, and called for its thorough examination.

The European Union's commitment to activating the Euro-Mediterranean partnership as an extension of the Barcelona Declaration of 1995 must be put into practice. This can only be done by enhancing the role played by cities.

Consequently:

- does the Commission plan to institute a programme of decentralised cooperation with the Mediterranean countries similar to those with Latin America and Asia?

- would the Commission agree to entering into close consultation with the Eurocities steering committee for the Euro-Mediterranean cities of the Euromed Pact when drawing up the next MEDA regional programme?

- does the Commission envisage substituting Euromed Pact measures for programmes which have not given the expected results, on the occasion of the MEDA Programme evaluation scheduled for the second half of 2003?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2002)

The Commission takes a keen interest in initiatives by local and regional authorities as part of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, notably those by associations such as Eurocities or Coppem (Standing Committee of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership) which seek to involve local communities more closely in the Barcelona process.

Municipal administrations have a key role to play in bringing the Mediterranean partner countries' civil society organisations together with their counterparts in the Member States. They can and must play an important role in cooperation in the fields of social and human development, notably where those areas come under local administrations such as local government, transport, environment, cultural heritage and social services, etc. The Commission feels that this cooperation can be further developed through local authorities.

It is worth pointing out that regional and national MEDA programmes, which are the subject of calls for proposals, are open to local communities or networks of local administrations. They can receive funding under programmes such as SMAP (Short and Medium-term Priority Environmental Action Programme), Eumedis (Telecommunications), Euromed Heritage (cultural heritage and exchanges) and Euromed Jeunesse (Youth), which comprise projects in which local authorities may cooperate.