The role of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and its effective diplomatic
activities in the region were the main topics discussed during the first day of proceedings of the
Standing Committees being held in St Julians.
During the debate the vice-president of the French Parliament and of PAM, the Hon. Rudy Salles,
emphasized the historical importance of the Assembly as a process that started in the spirit of
Helsinki as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean in the early
nineties. Since then, Mr Salles said, the Mediterranean countries have continued to give greater
impetus to their collaboration as States sitting together to discuss issues of common interest and
concern.
The vice president of the Hellenic Parliament Mrs Elsa Papademetriou stressed that the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean has a strategic position to play also within the
context of the newly set up Union for the Mediterranean. The PAM itself is the natural
representative of the countries of the Mediterranean and will continue to work towards the
creation of a platform to support mutual complimentarity and synergies with the
Euromediterranean Parliamentary Asssembly of the Barcellona process. The PAM is now in a
position to embark on a process to consolidate the results obtained so far and to be part of the
regional decision-making process.
Mrs Papademetriou and Mr Salles together with the other members concluded that the
Parliamentary Assembly has a great potential to continue to grow as it gathers on an equal
footing all the countries of the Mediterranean, most of which are represented in Malta for these
meetings.
‘Our dream for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean is not only to produce
substantive reports, it is much more imaginative, and we shall not leave one single stone
unturned in order to see it flourish in the name of the peoples we represent”.