Declaration: EMPA As Parliamentary Wing Of UfM

Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) as the parliamentary wing of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)

The enlarged Bureau of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), meeting in Paris on 12 July, adopted a declaration positioning EMPA as the parliamentary wing of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). This message was relayed by European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering to heads of state and government at the 13 July Union for the Mediterranean summit.

Chaired by Mr Pöttering, the Bureau is composed of Jordanian Parliament Speaker Abdel Hadi Al-Majali, Italian National Assembly Speaker Gianfranco Fini, and Moroccan Parliament Speaker Mustapha Mansouri.

In its declaration, the EMPA Bureau reaffirms the "vital and strategic" importance of enhanced co-operation among all partners in the Euro-Mediterranean region and describes the 13 July as "historic".

It welcomes this new political élan between partners on both sides of the Mediterranean and considers that for democratic legitimacy, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly must form an integral part of the institutional framework of the Barcelona process: Union for the Mediterranean.

EMPA Bureau members wish the Paris Summit to provide for twice-yearly summits, a joint presidency, a standing joint committee based in Brussels and a secretariat.

The EMPA Bureau calls for the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue among peoples to be strengthened, so as to create an area of peace, stability and shared prosperity.

ENDS

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