Four years after the “Arab spring” events, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly organised jointly with the Parliament of Italy a high-level meeting on 5th of June in Rome centred on “Current political challenges and opportunities in the Mediterranean region”. Organised in cooperation with the South programme II, the meeting saw the participation of representatives from Algeria, Israel, Morocco and the Palestinian National Authority.
Participants exchanged views on recent political developments and threats affecting the southern Mediterranean region ranging from the humanitarian crisis caused by unprecedented waves of irregular migration to security issues and the emergence of the terrorist entity known as “Islamic State”. Particular attention was also paid to the current situation of Libya which resulted in a call for a Libyan-led political process to put end to the crisis. The event presented also an opportunity to take stock of progress in democracy-building in the South Mediterranean four years after the so-called “Arab Spring” events.
Participants called for a more integrated and responsible European policies with the view to dealing with the migratory catastrophe and highlighted the importance for the countries from the region of having stable institutions and societies based on democratic and secular values.
In this sense, the action of the South Programme II aims precisely at that: strengthening democratic governance in Europe’s southern Neighbourhood through the reinforcement of democratic governance instances, the consolidation of national legal frameworks in the light of European standards, and the strengthening of the inter-and intra-regional cooperation in the fields of human rights, Rule of law and democracy.
