Anna Lindh Forum concludes announcing actions for renewed Euro-Med Partnership

The launch of an Annual Week of the Mediterranean, where voices and joint actions of citizens, parliaments, local authorities and civil society will be shared, was announced at the closing session of the Anna Lindh Forum that for the first time brought together in dialogue youth leaders, civil society, non-state actors, parliamentarians and elected officials.

 The Forum, held under the banner ‘Citizens for the Mediterranean’, opened a space for interaction, exchange and debate of the top issues facing the Euro-Med region today, with concrete plans for a better partnership across the region. Around 1500 citizens from 44 countries from across the Mediterranean participated in the Anna Lindh Forum, held in Marseille from 4 to 7 April. Addressing the Forum, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle underlined: “We are trying to move from rhetoric to reality, from assertion to action in a rapidly changing world. We may not have always chosen the best partners in our relations but the message to us from the people on the ground is clear: politicians make promises but it is people who make partnerships. That is why we are now putting a new emphasis on Civil Society in efforts to make our relations more inclusive.” On his part President of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures André Azoulay said: “The potential of the region’s abundant youthful energy and dynamism, coupled with its entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, is enormous.

We need to address the issues which have undermined previous attempts at building a union for the peoples of the Mediterranean. Top-down solutions will not work. Mediterranean partnership must be for the citizens, from the citizens and to the citizens.” Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament described the Forum as “a great success” and said “the successful re-launching of Euro-Med dialogue must centre on the mobilisation of civil society, of the citizens for the Mediterranean.

Key points

A press release on the Foundation’s website says the Anna Lindh Forum concluded with a number of key points including:

 · A sustainable action for Syria is on the way: The forum underlines that we cannot be citizens for the Mediterranean without being citizens for Syria and action is required to prepare civil society for after the conflict.

· Mobility as a key point in the re-launch of the Mediterranean partnership: Anna Lindh networks across the region agreed on the urgent need for ad-hoc visas for cultural leaders working across the region.

· The application of the debates and exchange that took place during the forum will be immediate with the Anna Lindh Foundation, its Networks and programmes.

· The Forum underlined the importance of working with citizenship education, with the very first Euro-Med handbook on teaching intercultural citizenship in schools.

· Citizens for Dialogue (www.dawrak.org), funded by the European Commission, was officially announced as an integral part of the Anna Lindh Foundation’s activities over the next two years.

· In the cultural field, the Forum announced the launch of the Euro-Med translation programme, with the focus on reducing the gap of mutual perceptions: the New Anna Lindh Report on Intercultural Trends and Social Change; and the support for media reporting across cultures.

The very first summit of Presidents of Parliaments of the Union for the Mediterranean, held simultaneously in Marseilles, recongised the Anna Lindh Foundation as the leading Euro-Med institution for intercultural dialogue and participatory citizenship.

The Anna Lindh Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue promotes knowledge, mutual respect and inter-cultural dialogue between the people of the Euro-Mediterranean region, working through a network of more than 3,000 civil society organisations in 43 countries. Its budget is co-funded by the EU (€7 million) and the EU member states (€6 million).