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Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians meet in Corfu


The 6th Meeting of the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD) took place on May 3-4, in Corfu island, Greece, with the participation of 30 MPs from 15 countries and representatives of regional organisations. The Meeting concluded with the Corfu Declaration.

COMPSUD 6 discussions focused on possible ways to strengthen the dimensions of sustainable development and of IWRM in regional political processes such as the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Horizon 2020, the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development and in particular, on the role of MPs in promoting such processes in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental partners. Moreover, the cooperation of COMPSUD with other parliamentary bodies in the region was in the focus, particularly with the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly and the Arab Parliament.

Highlights of the meeting included:

  • the participation and proved interest of the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Dora Bakoyannis as well as of the Secretary General of the recently established Arab Parliament, Mr. Adnan Omran. They have both become members of COMPSUD. Moreover, the Chairs of the Environment and Water Parliamentary Committees of Lebanon, Portugal and Greece participated in the meeting.
  • the suggestion made by MPs and the acceptance by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs to financially support meetings of COMPSUD in Corfu Island biannually. This means that every second year the COMPSUD meetings will be organized in a Mediterranean country (meetings were already held in Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Spain and Turkey) and every other in Corfu.
  • the invitation to COMPSUD by the European Commission representative to become Member of the Steering Committee of the Horizon 2020 Initiative. The first meeting of that body will take place in Marrakech on June 5-6, 2007.
  • the invitation to COMPSUD by UNDP representative to participate in the GEF/UNDP project proposal of Petersberg-Africa.

The above indicate the recognition that the Circle receives. A key challenge ahead is to use the COMPSUD dynamic at the national level, through the Parliaments, for the promotion of IWRM principles in law making and to assist country implementation of processes like the MED EUWI, the GEF SPM, the Petersberg/Athens Process and so on.

The Meeting was organized by GWP-Med and MIO-ECSDE that jointly serve as the COMPSUD Secretariat, and was financially supported by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For more details, please find below the Corfu Declaration (in English and French to be downloaded).

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Corfu Declaration_FINAL_EN.doc151.5 KB
CORFOU DECLARATION_FR.doc149 KB