Morocco hands over PA-UfM Presidency to Spain
Spain took over from Morocco the rotating presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM) for a one-year term.
The transition of the PA-UfM presidency to Spain took place at the conclusion of the Assembly’s 17th plenary session, held in Rabat with the participation of parliamentarians from over 42 member countries of the UfM.
During the handover, Francina Armengol, President of the Congress of Deputies of Spain and Vice-President of the PA-UfM, commended Morocco’s efforts during its presidency and for hosting the 17th session.
She also addressed several challenges confronting the Euro-Mediterranean region, and emphasized the imperative of fostering peace, narrowing economic disparities between the North and South, combating climate change, and improving migration management.
Armengol highlighted Spain’s commitment to continuing collaboration with Morocco on ensuring regular, orderly, and safe migration. She noted that Spain, like Morocco, would share its expertise in this area with all Euro-Mediterranean countries, to promote justice, economic prosperity, and social cohesion in the region.
The session’s agenda included the presentation and adoption of recommendations and proposals from the Assembly’s Committees and Working Group on Procedures and Finances, along with the adoption of the committees’ reports and recommendations.
The meeting also offered an opportunity to assess the Mediterranean region’s situation and discuss the Assembly’s role in 21st-century Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, with participants highlighting the urgency and significance of working together more closely, mainly to address the issues of youth, employment, investment, training, higher education, climate and energy matters, and the digitalization of the economy.
Participants acknowledged that the Assembly’s meeting is taking place in a challenging context due to the crisis in Gaza, and underscored in this connection the urgent need for a lasting ceasefire to protect innocent lives. The events of 2023 had brought peace and stability issues back to the forefront of the agenda, they pointed out.
Participants who stressed the importance of preserving the achievements of the Euro-Mediterranean region pointed out that the landscape of a new Mediterranean is taking shape and requires that all stakeholders mobilize more to take advantage of the benefits of cooperation and ensure a better future for the Euro-Mediterranean area.
The stability and security agenda remains a priority, so as not to relegate the many expectations of the Mediterranean to second place, and so that the path to a better Mediterranean drives collective efforts and joint actions to ensure a better future for future generations.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean is a platform that promotes Mediterranean dialogue and cooperation. It provides an opportunity for multilateral cooperation among elected representatives of the EU and its Southern Mediterranean partner countries. At least once a year the 280 equally distributed members hold a plenary session. Permanent observers to the Assembly include the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, Libya, the European Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee.
The assembly consists of five permanent committees, namely the Committee on Political and Security Affairs and Human Rights; the Committee on Improving Quality of Life and Exchanges Between Civil Societies and Cultures; the Committee on Women’s Rights in the Euro-Mediterranean Countries; the Committee on Economic, Financial, Social, and Educational Affairs; and the Committee on Energy, Environment, and Water.
