“2009 was a year in which the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) continued to strengthen its role at both the regional and international level” said PAM President, Rudy Salles (France). Commenting at the end of the IV Plenary Session of PAM held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 23-24 October 2009, Hon. Salles reiterated PAM‟s guiding principles founded on the achievements of peace in the region.
The IV Plenary Session hosted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was inaugurated by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The current challenges are common to all of us and we have to make all possible efforts to overcome them together. Unity is our driving force” said Premier Erdogan. The Turkish Head of government also referred to Turkey‟s EU accession ambitions and to the Cyprus issue suggesting that a solution should be reached by the end of the year by a quadripartite round table.
In his welcoming speech the Speaker of the Turkish parliament, H.E. Mehmet Ali Sahin insisted on the eradication of disparities between the North and the South of the Mediterranean as a key element for the region‟s development.
During the two day meeting in Istanbul, parliamentarians from the Mediterranean member states adopted a number of reports and resolutions prepared by the Standing Committees and their respective working groups on the following topics: Middle East, Organised Crime, Terrorism, Energy, Water, Environment and Climate change, Disaster Management, Small and Medium Enterprises, Migrations, Gender and Equality issues, Dialogue of Cultures and Religions.
The Assembly, to which Romania and San Marino participated as observer countries, was addressed by a number of guests whose presence exemplifies the level of outreach that PAM has achieved with other international and regional organisations, including a number of key UN Agencies involved in the region‟s issues.
The next PAM Plenary Session will be hosted by Morocco in 2010. Other activities in PAM‟s calendar for next year will be held in Malta, France, Slovenia and Serbia.
Following the Plenary Session, for the first time a meeting for the Secretaries General of PAM‟s National Parliaments was organised with the objective to provide an opportunity for the exchange of best practices and experiences. “This initiative will lead to an improved and better structured support of the national delegations to participate in the Assembly‟s activities and to increase cooperation among the member Assemblies”, said PAM Secretary General, Dr. Sergio Piazzi.
Another topic of common interest was the creation of synergies between the PAM Secretariat and the National counterparts thus helping to increase PAM‟s visibility on a national and regional level. This could also be achieved with the involvement of national parliaments through specific initiatives. The participants were also addressed by the Director General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Wojciech Sawicki, who emphasized the question of „relevancy‟ of issues to parliamentarians in order to achieve stronger and direct interest in the activities of the Assembly. The Secretaries General agreed to further improve on their current support to the national delegations and will also increase their efforts to promote PAM‟s visibility at the national level.