On the occasion of the Conference ‘Towards ARLEM’, organized on the 1st of December 2009 in Brussels by the Committee of Regions in partnership with UCLG, the CPMR and Medcities, it was confirmed that the constitutive meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Local and Regional Assembly would take place in Barcelona on the 21st of January 2010, during the Spanish Presidency of the European Union.
Almost one hundred local elected officials, diplomatic representatives and experts from partner countries of the Mediterranean Union debated two items at this conference: Local Governance and Decentralization in the Mediterranean and Sustainable Urban and Territorial Development.
Among the conclusions of the debates, presented on behalf of UCLG by Mr. Mohamed Reda Benkhaldoun, member of Parliament and Deputy Mayor of Rabat, the participants emphasized the need to develop at the heart of the UfM and of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, structuring urban and regional policies, which favour decentralization, with improved access to financial resources for local and regional authorities. Ms. Martine Vassal, Deputy Mayor of the City of Marseille, which maintains the vice-presidency of the UCLG Mediterranean Committee, proposed to work at the heart of ARLEM on five priorities: water, energy, local services, climate change, and sustainable tourism.
Both Mr. Luc Van den Brande, President of the Committee of the Regions, and Mr. Pierre Schapira, Deputy Mayor of Paris, stated during the debate that the success of ARLEM depends upon the joint efforts of the Committee of the Regions and the active networks of local authorities in the Mediterranean. The networks met together through the UCLG Mediterranean Committee, which was responsible for this initiative, launched in June 2008 on the occasion of the Forum of Local and Regional Authorities for the Mediterranean. The next Forum is expected to take place next 2nd and 3rd of May in Barcelona, one month before the UfM Summit of Heads of State and Government.