PAM Secretary General, Dr. Sergio Piazzi, represented the Assembly at the 7th Plenary Session
of the PA- UfM, where he held a series of high level bilateral meetings.
He reviewed the current political developments in the Mediterranean region with, among others,
the Italian Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Frattini and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Mr. Mohamed Mostafa Kamal; as well as with parliamentarians of
the region and Members of the European Parliament. In the course of the meeting, PAM support
to the actions undertaken by the international community to face the emerging challenges in
North Africa was reiterated.
The Euro-Mediterranean meeting in Rome was also the occasion for delegates to discuss the
financial instruments available to the European institutions to deal with the transformations of
North African countries, and propose new initiatives for the development of the region to answer
the needs expressed by the peoples in the South shore of the Mediterranean. Dr. Piazzi discussed
economic issues with key actors in this field such as Mr. Charles Milhaud, Former Chair of the
High-Level Working Group on the Financing of co-development in the Mediterranean,
established by H.E. Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic, and Professor Lino
Cardarelli, acting Secretary General of the UfM and Senior Deputy Secretary General for Project
Funding and Coordination and Business Development for SMEs. Dr. Piazzi seized this
opportunity to recall PAM longstanding involvement in strengthening economic cooperation in
the region, notably through the activities of the PAM Panel on External Trade and Investments in
the Mediterranean.
PAM Secretary General also discussed issues related to Financial Cooperation, Immigration and
Integration, Environment protection and cultural policies through a range of meetings with
European MEPs and parliamentarians of the Mediterranean region, namely Hon. Ines Ayala
Sender (MEP), Hon. Xavier Bettel (Luxembourg) and Hon. Eduardo Cabrita (Portugal).
Discussions focused on PAM future actions to address current challenges in the region and
underlined the commitment of the Assembly to build a mutually beneficial cooperation with the
PA – UfM, based on exchanges of experiences and best practices, to enhance the conditions of
Mediterranean citizens.