Bureau, 1st and 2nd Standing Committee meetings to convene in Nice on 29-30 April 2010

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MEDIA INFORMATION: 08/2010
ISSUED ON: 20/04/2010

Organised Crime, Terrorism, the Middle East, Environment and Climate Change, Water and Energy will be the topics on the agenda of the forthcoming PAM meeting in France organised as part of the annual calendar of events of the Assembly.

On 29-30 April delegates from PAM member national parliaments will convene in Nice, under the overall guidance of PAM president, Hon. Rudy Salles, and at the invitation of the French Parliament, within the framework of the 1st and 2nd Standing Committees, which deal with Political and Security related Cooperation and Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation respectively. PAM parliamentarians will also be attending a colloque entitled Culture at the heart of Mediterranean relations” organised by the French Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS) on 28 April.

Hon. Angela Napoli (Italy), rapporteur on Organised Crime, will introduce the proceedings of the Special Task Force on Organised Crime and will present her report and resolution on Human Trafficking and Dumping of Toxic Wastes. The debate will be preceded by the contribution from a number of international key-note speakers including Mr. Stefano Lenzi from the WWF/Observatory for a toxic free Mediterranean. Other invited guests are the Prefect of Nice Mr. Francis Lamy and Mr. Philippe Bardey from ACRI Nice.

Hon. George Vella (Malta) will also update the participants on the latest developments in the Middle East. Dr Vella, Chairman of the PAM Ad Hoc Committee on the Middle East, will give an overview of the outcome of the meeting held in Malta last February in support of Israeli Palestinian peace. The event was co-organised by PAM and the United Nations and attracted close to 200 participants representing the major stakeholders in this issue. Hon. Askin Asan (Turkey), rapporteur of the Special Task Force on Terrorism, will focus her report and resolution on The Root causes of Terrorism”, thus building on previous reports which the Turkish MP has dedicated, inter alia, to the Definition of Terrorism”. Further in-depth analysis on the issue, will be provided by guest speakers such as Mr. Francois Burgat, Director, French Institute for the Near East and researcher at

IREMAM, Prof. Dr. Beril Dedeoglu, from Galatasaray University, Turkey, Dept. of International Relations and Prof. Jean-Francois Mattei, from Sophia Antipolis University and member of the Institut Universitaire de France.

The second day will be dedicated to environmental issues falling under the 2nd Standing Committee, specifically Climate Change, Water and Energy. Hon. Dubravka Suica (Croatia), rapporteur of the Special Task Force on Environment and Climate Change will submit a report on the Environmental challenges facing the Mediterranean, following PAM participation at COP15, in which she will also be proposing a long term PAM workplan for further concrete actions. Among the experts addressing the delegates there are Mr. Henri-Luc Thibault, Director Blue Plan, Sophia Antipolis University, Prof. Alexandre Meinesz, Director, Laboratoire ECOMERS, Sophia Antipolis University, and Mr. Modhi Ephraim, Adviser to the President of Israel H.E. Shimon Peres.

French MP Sen. Jacque Blanc, will update his Mediterranean colleagues on the issues of water management and distribution in the region. Prof. Raul Caruba, Organiser of the Cannes International Water Symposium and founding member of the International Chair on Water and Sustainable Development will also address the participants.

Finally, sustainable development in the Mediterranean energy sector, will be dealt with by Hon. Mohamed Abou El Enein, (Egypt) Special Rapporteur on Energy and PAM Roving Ambassador. Mr. Alessandro Ortis, President of MEDREG, will be highlighting the latest developments in the region related to the energy sector.

The PAM Bureau will also meet to take stock of PAMs activities since the IV Plenary Session held in Istanbul, Turkey, late last year, and is expected to discuss further initiatives for the coming months including PAMs participation in and contribution to other international events in the light of its Observer Status to the United Nations General Assembly.

The Nice debates will be presided over by Hon. Jose Carlos Correia Motate Andrade (Portugal) President of the 1st Standing Committee and Vice President of PAM and Hon. Suleiman Ghneimat (Jordan) President of the 2nd Standing Committee and Vice President of PAM, respectively.

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