fathallah sijilmassi

The Intermediterranean Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe organised its annual Plenary Assembly in Barcelona, since Catalonia currently holds the organisation’s presidency. This organisation brings together 45 regional governments from 9 different Mediterranean countries. For the first time, the Union for the Mediterranean – which brings the 27 European Union Member States and 16 countries from the Northern Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans together – signs a cooperation agreement with an organisation of regional governments. At the signing ceremony, political leaders asked the European Union to pay more attention to the South, as once it did with Eastern Europe.

The initiative targets 10,000 young women, studying at university and wanting to start their own business, from Morocco, Palestine, Jordan and Spain. The 'Young Women as Job Creators' project aims to create 400 new businesses. It is an initiative by the Union for the Mediterranean – whose headquarters are based in Barcelona – and the Association of Organisations of Mediterranean Businesswomen (AFAEMME). The project will run from May to November 2013 and it will be based on workshops and courses taught in universities from the four countries involved. The initiative has a budget of €300,000, paid by the Government of Norway, the Catalan multinational Gas Natural Fenosa, the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Investment Bank.

Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, while in Barcelona, has asked for a greater involvement by the European Union and its members in the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which has its headquarters in the Catalan Capital. This institution was supposed to be essential in the EU’s foreign relations, building a Euro-Mediterranean cooperation space. However, the reality is that since it was founded in 2008 almost no projects have been developed and very few funds have been allocated. The Israel-Palestine conflict and the institutional instability of the Arab Spring are one cause of the paralysis of the UfM, but the lack of engagement of the European Union is also a contributing factor.

The President of the European Parliament is visiting Barcelona; coinciding with the European Central Bank Governing Council meeting that is taking place in the Catalan capital. Schulz asked Member States to be less focused on “budget cuts” and start “working together”, otherwise there is a great risk that the EU might end up “failing”. The German politician praised Catalan culture, and reaffirmed his will to push for Catalan being an official language in the Parliament he chairs. Schulz met with the Catalan President, Artur Mas, as well as with Catalan author Jaume Cabré.