The Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM)

For the first time since the creation of ARLEM in 2010, representatives of local and regional authorities from the Mediterranean partners as well members of the Committee of the Regions, will meet in Egypt on 10 November.

In the presence of several members of the Egyptian government, notably the Minister of Local Development, Mr Adel Labib, Bureau members will discuss the work programme of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy at local and regional level. The meeting will be chaired by ARLEM co-Presidents Michel Lebrun, President of the Committee of the Regions and Youssef Ali Abdel-Rahman, Governor of Giza (Egypt). They will be joined by a number of representatives of the Egyptian government.

Following the adoption of the new Egyptian constitution in January 2014, which goes further than previous constitutions in promoting the devolution of power to local authorities, the meeting will also provide Bureau members with an opportunity to review the practical implications of the process of decentralisation in the region, which ARLEM recently traced in its map of the process of decentralisation and regionalisation in the Mediterranean region ( http://portal.cor.europa.eu/arlem/Pages/default.aspx)

The first part of the meeting will be dedicated to the territorial dimension of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The debate will focus on recent developments in EU-Mediterranean cooperation and the political recommendations of the 2014 ARLEM annual report. This will be followed by a presentation of recent developments in the programming of the European Neighbourhood Policy, with a special focus on the implications for local and regional authorities. Participants will also discuss the priorities for the next ARLEM mandate 2015-2017, which will be strategically placed within the work programme of the UfM.

In preparation of the ARLEM plenary session, which will be held in Antalya, Turkey, on 14-15 December 2014, Mr Hani Abdelmasih al-Hayek, co-chair of the SUDEV commission will present the draft report on "waste management at local and regional level in the Mediterranean region", while Mr Lütfü Savas, co-chair of the ECOTER commission, will present the draft report on "the role of local and regional authorities in managing migration in the Mediterranean". Both reports will be adopted at the plenary session.

Also on the agenda will be a presentation by Mr Peter Bossman, co-chair of the ECOTER commission, on ARLEM road map for the implementation of its report on a cohesion policy for the Mediterranean.

Nathalie Vandelle

Tel. +32 2 282 2499

E-mail: nathalie.vandelle@cor.europa.eu