Mediterranean regions and cities urge stronger disaster cooperation

Local and regional leaders from the three shores of Mediterranean pay tribute to innocent civilian victims in the Middle East.

Regional and local politicians from across the Mediterranean have urged national governments to establish a Euro-Mediterranean approach to disaster risk reduction, to ensure that authorities are better prepared for earthquakes, water scarcity, floods and wildfires.

The annual plenary meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), which was hosted in Alghero by the President of the Regional Council of Sardinia Michele Pais (IT/ECR), started on 24 October ​with a minute of silence  to pay respect to all innocent civilian victims in the Middle East.

"We must avoid exacerbating this humanitarian catastrophe and ensure that current crisis does not potentially trigger a broader scale conflict. We call for the de-escalation of tensions, for a peaceful solution to the conflict and for regional stability in the Middle East. The purpose of ARLEM is to promote peace, solidarity and democracy through the actions of local and regional leaders. By offering a framework for dialogue and cooperation anchored in a Euro-Mediterranean dynamic, we will promote a better mutual understanding and inclusion of people and cultures" said Patrick Molinoz (FR/PES), Chair of the commission of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in charge of external affairs, and vice-president of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. "Every life lost is one too many: Let us all remember that all lives have the same worth," underlined Ahamad Al Khazali, mayor of Greater Ramtha Municipality in Jordan, who co-chaired the meeting.

Italy's Minister for Civil Protection Nello Musumeci – a former CoR member – sent a video message to the assembly, which also heard from mayors and governors from a range of countries that have suffered major floods and earthquakes this year, including Greece, Libya, Morocco, and Türkiye, as well as regions badly affected by forest fires.

The core recommendation made by ARLEM members was for a trans-Mediterranean cooperation based on general risk-reduction priorities identified by the United Nations and also on the EU's system of identifying regions that require targeted strategies, greater international cooperation, and increased access to resources. The recommendations praised the emergence in the past year of three initiatives to map risks, prepare disaster responses, and provide technical help, identifying these as initiatives that local and regional authorities – and ARLEM – could help develop.

The rapporteur, André Viola (FR/PES), member of the Departmental Council of Aude, said: "Our Mediterranean area is one of the regions where the effects of global warming will be particularly severe, given our vulnerability to many forms of natural disasters, wildfires, droughts, floods, earthquakes. So far, Euro-Mediterranean civil-protection projects have strengthened cooperation between countries and national civil-protection agencies. It is now time to include local and regional authorities in the governance of civil-protection systems. Their role is crucial in improving resilience to disasters, and also, as we see in these sad days of war, to provide a prompt humanitarian response."

The meeting also saw the adoption of proposals to promote sustainable urban transport. The recommendations draw on case studies of strategies being pursued by two North African capitals – Rabat in Morocco and Tunis in Tunisia – as well as on trends within the European Union. The report also focused on the health aspects of transport policy, which it said needed to be better reflected in national policies. At the municipal level, the report advocates for a shift to electric vehicles, cycling, walking, and micromobility solutions, such as bicycles and scooters, which it describes as an efficient way of resolving the 'first and last mile' problem of getting from home to public transport.

The report was drafted by Abdelaziz Derouiche, president of the Moroccan Association of Presidents of the Councils of the Prefectures and Provinces, who had presented an earlier draft of his proposals to the Union for the Mediterranean on 4 May, at a ministerial conference on sustainable urban development. The added value of the contribution was underlined by the UfM Deputy Secretary-General Erdal Sebri Ergen, who underlined the need for the UfM and ARLEM to continue their decade of cooperation, in particular in the areas of urban development and civil protection.

Two transport businesses that have proved successful in promoting the transition away from fossil fuels emerged as the winner and runner-up in an award presented at the meeting in Sardinia. The ARLEM Award: Young local entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean recognises both the work of entrepreneurs younger than 35 and efforts by local authorities to foster business-friendly policies.

The winning collaboration was between Oğuzhan Saritaş and the Turkish city of İzmir, for the development of an application, Car4Future, that enables owners of electric vehicles to find charging stations and to earn money by sharing their own charging station. The runner-up was the City of Marrakech and Cantal Bakker, a Dutch national whose bike-sharing company, Pikala, also organises road-safety campaigns and raises awareness of transport issues in schools.

The issue of sustainability has been a central element of the work of ARLEM since its creation in 2010.

Background:

• The agenda of the meeting and the list of participants can be found here. Two reports were adopted: "Cities' and regions' potential role in Mediterranean civil protection", drafted by André Viola (FR/PES), member of the Departmental Council of Aude; and "Urban health and sustainable urban mobility in the Mediterranean", whose rapporteur was Abedelaziz Derouiche, President of the AMPCPP and President of the Prefectural Council of Rabat, Morocco.
• The Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) is a forum that brings together representatives from local and regional authorities in the European Union and partner countries in the Mediterranean region. ARLEM was created in 2010 by the European Committee of the Regions, which serves as the secretariat and has a consultative role in the legislative work of the European Union. ARLEM also serves to inform the work of the Union for the Mediterranean, a regional cooperation initiative aimed at promoting stability, economic growth, and cultural understanding in the Mediterranean region.
• The three Euro-Mediterranean civil-protection initiatives that have emerged in 2023 are: a technological collaboration between the European Space Agency and the International Science and Technology Centre to identify risks; a multi-country study of major risks and response capacities; and the OSA programme to provide technical assistance to non-EU countries. All three are part of the EU-funded PPRD Med programme for prevention, preparedness and response to natural and man-made disasters in the Mediterranean.

Contact:

Andrew Gardner

Tel. +32 473 843 981

andrew.gardner@cor.europa.eu