6th Plenary Session of ARLEM - 14-15 December 2014, Antalya (TK)

ARLEM Plenary Session in Turkey: Migration and urban governance on the agenda

The Turkish city of Antalya is hosting the 6th Plenary Session of ARLEM on 14-15 December 2014. Local and regional representatives from EU member states and Euro-Mediterranean countries will discuss various important topics ranging from migration to waste management and urban governance.

The plenary session will begin with the presentation and the adoption of the annual report on "The state of the territorial dimension of the Union for the Mediterranean", which also sets political recommendations for coming years. ARLEM insists that the EU must continue to be the primary strategic partner for the countries to the south and east of the Mediterranean, helping them towards a prosperous and peaceful future. This will be followed by a debate on the state of the decentralisation in the Euromed region. ARLEM wants to support the decentralisation and the development of multi-level governance. In order to achieve that, it is vital to strengthen the institutional capacity of local and regional authorities. ARLEM is also calling for a cohesion policy which promotes south-south cooperation and is supported by funding from the EU's neighbourhood policy.

The management of migration flows in the Euro-Mediterranean area has been a hot topic in recent years, and a report on the role of local and regional authorities in this context will be adopted. It has been drafted by CoR member Antonio Costa i, Mayor of Lisbon. Environmental issues will also be subject of discussion with a report on waste management at the local and regional level. In order to face the challenges created by increasing urbanisation, the ARLEM initiative for an urban agenda for the Mediterranean will be presented. It aims to strengthen the institutional and administrative capacities of cities and regions in urban governance.

This plenary session is the last one under the current CoR mandate and will be co-chaired by CoR president Michel Lebrun and Ali Abd El-Rahmen, Governor of Giza (Egypt).