Doc. 9872

10 July 2003

Mediterranean co-operation concerning the environment and local democracy

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr de Puig and others

The Parliamentary Assembly has long sought to strengthen co-operation between the countries of the Mediterranean basin in a wide range of fields, including the environment, sustainable development and local democracy. It has just adopted Resolution 1331 (2003) on Challenges for Mediterranean agriculture.

It was in response to an Assembly initiative that the Conferences of Mediterranean Regions were inaugurated, the first in Marseilles in 1985 and the most recent (sixth) in Varna in 2000. These conferences have encouraged co-operation at various levels, including governments, NGOs and, naturally, parliaments.

The Assembly considers that, following the organisation's enlargement and now that all the countries on the northern shore of the Mediterranean basin are members of the Council of Europe, the latter has become the most appropriate forum for improving international co-operation in this region, thus complementing the "Barcelona process" initiated by the European Union in 1995.

The Assembly is aware that the organisation of local and regional government varies greatly between the countries of the Mediterranean basin, and is convinced that greater co-operation could help to make democratic values and the application of the subsidiarity principle the common denominator for all the local and regional authorities of the countries concerned.

Co-operation and the sharing of experience within the Council of Europe framework, whether at the parliamentary or local and regional government level, can contribute in a decisive way to sustainable development and the promotion of local democracy in the whole of the Mediterranean region.

Moreover, the environment is one of those areas where no co-operation is possible unless it is founded on solid co-operation based on responsibility and a sharing of the same values by all those concerned. The Mediterranean basin offers a good illustration of this principle and political decision-makers have a duty to show that differences of points of view can be overcome in the interests of the sustainable development of the entire region.

The Assembly also hopes to strengthen its co-operation with the Mediterranean basin countries in the fields of environmental protection, sustainable development and local democracy, in accordance with the Varna Conference's commitment to interparliamentary and interregional dialogue, with a view to establishing real co-operation and dialogue among the Mediterranean countries.

Signed (see overleaf)

Signed ¹:

De Puig, Spain, SOC

Agudo, Spain, SOC

Chapman, United Kingdom, EDG

Coifan, Romania, LDR

Ekes, Hungary, EPP/CD

Etherington, United Kingdom, SOC

Fehr, Switzerland, LDR

Grissemann, Austria, NR

Gubert, Italy, EPP/CD

Herczog, Hungary, SOC

Jäeger, Germany, SOC

Kužvart, Czech Republic, SOC

Lobkowicz, Czech Republic, EPP/CD

Maissen, Switzerland, EPP/CD

O’Hara, United Kingdom, SOC

Ohlsson, Switzerland, SOC

Schicker, Austria, SOC

Schmied, Switzerland, LDR

Taylor, United Kingdom, EDG

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group