European Parliament President Martin Schulz

Schulz convenes the first summit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Union for the Mediterranean

Brussels - 27-03-2013

Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament and President-in-Office of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean, will welcome Speakers of the Parliaments of the member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean in Marseille on 6 and 7 April.

The summit, convened at the initiative of President Schulz, will be the first high-level meeting since the summit of the Heads of State and government of the UfM held in Paris in 2008 and the first regional meeting since the Arab Spring.

Announcing the event, President Schulz said:

"This summit will be an opportunity to show that Parliaments are ready to fill the political leadership gap from which the UfM has suffered from in recent years.

We, the Speakers/Presidents of the Parliaments, would like to underline the importance of giving an impetus to the implementation of UfM projects at a time of major regional political and economic upheaval.

We also need to re-forge the link between people on both sides of the Mediterranean and respond to their common expectations.

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 summit will continue the work of the civil forum organised by the Anna Lindh Foundation at the Pharo’s Palace in Marseille from 4 to 7 April. 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.

The Speakers of the Parliaments will receive proposals from the Anna Lindh Foundation forum and will draw up their own recommendations to be put to the governing bodies of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Programme of the Marseille summit: Sunday, 7 April 2013, Villa Méditerranée

09.00 Opening speech - Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament and President-in-Office of the Parliamentary Assembly of the UfM 09.10 Presentation of the conclusions of the Forum of local and regional authorities of the Mediterranean - Michel Vauzelle, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Special Envoy for the Mediterranean of the President of the French Republic 09.20 Presentation of the conclusions of the Mediterranean Civil Forum - André Azoulay, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation 09.30 Exchange of views by the Speakers of the Parliaments of the UfM 11.30 Family photo

Schulz convenes the first summit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Union for the Mediterranean 1/5 European Parliament President Martin Schulz

11.45 Debate and adoption of Summit declaration 12.00 Press Conference

Schulz convenes the first summit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Union for the Mediterranean 2/5 European Parliament President Martin Schulz

12.30 Inauguration of the Villa Méditerranée

List of participating Speakers/Deputy Speakers/Deputies:

Non-EU PARTNER COUNTRIES:

ALBANIA Jozefina TOPALLI, Speaker of the Parliament

ALGERIA Mohamed LARBI OULD KHÉLIFA, President of the People's

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA Denis BEIROVI, First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Ognjen TADI, First Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples

CROATIA Josip LEKO, Speaker of the Parliament of Croatia (Sabor)

EGYPT Ahmed FAHMY, Speaker of the Shoura Council

JORDAN Tarek KHOURY, Vice President of the House of Representatives

MONACO Laurent NOUVION, President of the National Council

MONTENEGRO Ranko KRIVOKAPI, Speaker of the Parliament

MOROCCO Karim GHELLAB, President of the House of Representatives Mohamed Cheikh BIADILLAH, President of the House of Councillors

MAURITANIA Mohamed EL HADJ, President of the Senate Arbi Ould SIDI ALI OULD JEDDINE, Vice-President of the National Assembly

PALESTINE Abdullah ABDULLAH, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council

TUNISIA Mustapha BEN JAAFAR, President of the National Constituent Assembly

TURKEY Sadk YAKUT, Vice President of the Grand National Assembly

ARAB PARLIAMENT President Ahmed ALJARWAN

EU representatives:

AUSTRIA Barbara PRAMMER, President of the National Council

BELGIUM André FLAHAUT, President of the House of Representatives

CYPRUS Fittis SOPHOCLIS, Vice-President of the House of Representatives

DENMARK Bertel HAARDER, Vice-President of the Parliament (Folketinget)

ESTONIA Ene ERGMA, President of the Parliament ()

FRANCE Claude BARTOLONE, President of the National Assembly

GERMANY Norbert LAMMERT, President of the Bundestag

GREECE Ioannis TRAGAKIS, Deputy Speaker of the

HUNGARY István JAKAB, Vice-President of the National Assembly (Országgylés)

Schulz convenes the first summit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Union for the Mediterranean 3/5 European Parliament President Martin Schulz

IRELAND Seán BARRETT, Speaker of the House of Representatives (Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil Éireann) Denis O'DONOVAN, Deputy Speaker of the Senate (Leas-Chathaoirleach of the Seanad Éireann)

ITALY Laura BOLDRINI, President of the Chamber of Deputies

LATVIA Solvita BOLTIA, Speaker of the Parliament ()

LITHUANIA Vydas GEDVILAS, Speaker of the Parliament ()

LUXEMBOURG Lydie POLFER, Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies

POLAND Bogdan BORUSEWICZ, Marshal of the Senate; Jerzy WENDERLICH, Vice-President of the Sejm

PORTUGAL António FILIPE, Vice-President of the Assembly of the Republic

ROMANIA Veleriu ZGONEA, President of the Chamber of Deputies; Cristian DUMITRESCU, Vice-President of the Senate

SLOVENIA Romana TOMC, Vice President of the National Assembly

SPAIN Jesús Posada, President of the Congress of Deputies; Juan José LUCAS, Vice-President of the Senate

SWEDEN Per WESTERBERG, President of the Parliament ()

Background

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean is the parliamentary institution of the ‘Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean’. It was formed in Naples on 3 December 2003 and has the following remit:

to boost the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership; to monitor the actions and projects of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership; to adopt resolutions and recommendations for the Union for the Mediterranean’s ministerial conferences.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the UfM is made up of MPs/MEPs appointed by the national parliaments of the Member States of the European Union, the national parliaments of the Mediterranean partners and the European Parliament.

The next plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean will be held in Brussels on 11 and 12 April 2013.

The main objectives of the Union for the Mediterranean concern energy and the environment: water (for example 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.

Note to editors:

Mediterranean Forum of the Anna Lindh Foundation: http://www.annalindhforum.org/fr

Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/intcoop/paufm/default.htm

Marseilles, European Capital of Culture 2013:

Schulz convenes the first summit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Union for the Mediterranean 4/5 European Parliament President Martin Schulz http://www.mp2013.fr/#

Press contact for information: François Arnaud: [email protected] Giacomo Fassina: [email protected]

Press contact for accreditation to the Summit on 7 April: Press service of the regional Council PACA: [email protected] / Fax : +33 (0)4 91 57 51 53.

Please indicate your press card number, the name of your media, your identity card or passport number.

Giacomo Fassina Assistant Europarl President Press - +32 498 98 33 10 [email protected]

Schulz convenes the first summit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Union for the Mediterranean 5/5