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MEDITERRANEAN CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY
TOWARDS A MEDITERRANEAN COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE
OUR SEA
MARE NOSTRUM
• An area of approximately 2,5 millions km2• 3860 km long• The largest inland sea in the world• 22 countries representing more than 450 millions people • 150 millions people live on its shores• Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina,
Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Gaza strip of Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, the islands of Malta and Cyprus
MARE NOSTRUM• Its history, past and present, is shaped by three
great religions, cultures and social organizations: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
• Today the Mediterraneann is a political, social and cultural mosaic where we find:
1. A high level of socioeconomic inequalities between the North and the South but also within the South
2. High level of pollution and hydrocarbon
MEDITERRANEAN INSTITUTIONS
• The Mediterranean partnership launched in 1995 and known as the Barcelona Process has evolved in July 2008
• Birth of the Union for the Mediterranean which claims to be a stable institutional framework for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation
Some Mediterranean Realities
• The deadlock of the peace process in the Middle East• Political stalemate in the South• Upsurge of the Islamist fundamentalism• War on Terror: wars in Afghanistan and Iraq• Crisis provoked by globalization:
- Economic and social crisis- Widening economic and social gap between northern southern shores
• Presence of other powers which seek to expand their influence (USA, China)
Existing Institutions
• Anna Lindh Foundation• Euromediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA)• Union for the MEditerranean (UfM)• Euromed Plateform• Instituto Europeo del Mediterráneo (IEMed)• Casa Mediterráneo (España)• Centre International des Hautes Etudes Agronomiques
Mediterranéenne (CIHEAM)• Euro Mediterranean Study Commission (EuroMeSCo)• Euromed Trade Union Forum• The Euro-Mediterranean Assembly of Local and Regional
Authorities (ARLEM)
Existing Institutions (2)
• Association of Organisations of Mediterranean Businesswomen(AFAEMME)
• Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME)
• Mediterranean Women’s Forum• Réseau Euro-Méditerranéen de l’Economie Sociale(ESMED).• Forum Euro-méditerranéenan des Instituts de Sciences
Economiques (FEMISE)• Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Networks(EMHRN) • Permanent Conference of the Mediterranean Audiovisual
Operators (CoPeAm)• (…)
Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly (MCA)
• Since 2008, a group of Mediterranean citizens have committed to work towards the emergence of a Mediterranean community of peoples.
• The process is founded on the democratic values of freedom, peace, respect for cultural diversity and environmental responsibility.
• It aims to favour the emergence of a common voice and a common citizens’ action, thanks to permanent communication using innovative tools and methods.
MCA’s Main Ideas
• Although the Mediterranean lacks unity as a region on the political level, it is de facto a region in the historical, human, commercial, cultural, social and environmental sense.
• Cyclic tensions can occurs between regions characterized by
inequities and different religious and cultural traditions.
• relations between the countries in the region are developed to different degrees and are more often bilateral than multilateral.
A Mediterranean Community of People
Requires to:
• Work towards a shared and concerted governance, adapted to the Mediterranean region.
• Strive to break the isolation of countries that are still too confined within their national boundaries, or excluded for economic and political reasons – particularly in the South and East of the Mediterranean.
OBJECTIVES OF THE MCA
• Contribute to building a sustainable Mediterranean area of peace, development, solidarity and shared prosperity between its peoples.
• to promote the involvement of citizens within a new political, economic and social structure for the Mediterranean basin.
• Take part in the emergence of a new governance, truly based on dialogue and sharing, in the Mediterranean area.
OBJECTIVES OF THE MCA (2)
• Act in favour of economic and political integration at the regional level, thus enabling certain populations to break away from their confinement.
• Work towards overcoming mutual fears to give a sense of
human, political, cultural, environmental and economic unity to a community of Mediterranean peoples once again.
• Help communities communicate with each other.
The MCA : A place for dialogue
• The Mediterranean Citizen’s Assembly is conceived as a place of permanent communication between communities of the Mediterranean basin, including all the elements that compose them.
• This is a long-term process that gathers different actors of society – citizens’ movements, public or private institutions, firms, associations, trade unions, experts, universities, research centers, etc
The MCA: A pluralist and humanist vision
• The MCA is part of a progressist and humanist vision of the historical evolution of the Mediterranean as a whole, and of the entire world.
• The MCA is pluralist through the identity and nature of the
actors invited to participate in the dialogue, as well as through the philosophical, political or religious currents they represent.
• The MCA favours an ethics of diversity and unity.
MCA ORGANISATION
• The Mediterranean Coordination is composed by non-profit organizations from the civil society.
• The Advisory Council is formed by volunteers from the Mediterranean region. Its main responsability is the promotion of the process.
• The Citizens’ Circles are designed as places of local and open dialogue between citizens
The Mediterranean Coordination
• The Mediterranean Coordination is currently composed by:
1. the Centro de Estudios Rurales y de Agricultura International (CERAI, Spain),
2. The European University of Tirana (Albania)3. The European Movement International, based in
Brussels.
• The Coordination is being expanded with regional centers in Morocco, Egypt and Turkey.
The Citizens’ Circles
• This initiative also aims to promote and create Local Mediterranean Citizens’ Circles in the different countries of the region.
• Conceived as open and permanent places for dialogue between citizens, they exchange ideas (through workshops, round table discussions), and collectively elaborate and assess proposals aiming to contribute to the emergence of new economic, social, cultural and environmental policies.
The Citizens’Circles (2)
• All citizens can take part in these Circles on the condition that they agree with the principles of the Founding Charter and commit to abide by them.
• Currently there are circles in Thessaly (Greece), Tirana (Albania), Montenegro, in Valencia (Spain) and Casablanca (Morocco).
• New circles are being created in Rome (Italy), Paris (France) and in Croatia.
The First Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly
• The First Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly on « institutions and citizenship in the Mediterranean » was held in Valencia, Spain, from 2 to 4 July 2010.
• Over 100 people from 18 Mediterranean countries participated in this first Assembly.
The First Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly in Valencia
• Members of the Mediterranean Citizens’ Circles of Thessaly, Tirana, Valencia, Podgorica and Casablanca participated.
• Were also present representatives of all the Euro-Mediterranean public institutions:– Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.– EuroMed Parliamentary Assembly.– Anna Lindh Foundation.– European Economic and Social Committee.– European Commission.– European Investment Bank
First Assembly in Valencia: questions raised
• The citizens present discussed the following themes:– The Mediterranean area.– Citizenship in the Mediterranean, rights and
responsibilities.– Current and future challenges in the
Mediterranean: individual and collective responsibilities of the citizens.
– The construction of a sustainable area of peace: are there preconditionalities?
Answers to discussions of the Assembly
• Enable the emergence of a Peoples’ Mediterranean Community, anchored in a Mediterranean political area and Mediterranean citizenship.
• Require active policies against unemployment, particularly amongst the youngest layers of the population, as well as policies of integration for women.
• Promote mobility, especially in the case of young people.• Promote education, based on new and crossed insights.• Protect and preserve the Mediterranean sea as a resource and
heritage.
The MCA and its future
• Consolidation of the dynamic and representativeness of the MCA through: – The creation of new circles all around the
Mediterranean and greater mobilisation of existing circles.
– Enlargement of the Coordination towards new regional centres.
• Discussions on the political, economic, social, and environmental issues of the Mediterranean.
The next Assembly in 2011
• The main question will be carried through in 2011: institutions and citizenship in the Mediterranean through the eyes of African citizens and institutions.
• Euro-Mediterranean institutions, public African, Arab, Islamic, as well as academic, social and civil institutions with a Mediterranean dimension, and yourself, are invited to this Assembly, which will be organised in a country of the Southern shore of the Mediterranean in the second half of 2011.
