Discussions of the CSCM session were dominated by the future of the CSCM, specifically the constitution of the Parliamentary Assembly of Mediterranean States. Although opposing views emerged as to the order of priority of the questions to be covered within the CSCM and whether the present timing was propitious for the establishment of such an Assembly, there was an overall consensus that the CSCM process needs to continue and be strengthened. After much discussion, the representatives agreed to:

• Hold a meeting of the Coordinating Committee open to all members of the CSCM process on the occasion of the 109th Assembly in Geneva;

• Engage in broad consultations with the CSCM membership regarding the future of the process, particularly on the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly of Mediterranean States, and present a report containing proposals for an effective programme of future activities of the CSCM;

• Appoint Mr. Salles from France as Chair of the Coordinating Committee and the CSCM process for a two-year period, to direct this process and to lead the consultation;

• Appoint Ms. E. Papadimitriou (Greece) and Mr. A. Radi (Morocco) as Rapporteurs of the process for a two-year period, to prepare the report for the meeting;

• Accept, in principle, the proposal of Greece to host the Fourth Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean, to be held in Athens in 2004 on the eve of the Olympic Games. The rapporteurs will also be in charge of establishing a preliminary agenda for this Conference, following prior consultation with the parties to the process and the approval of the proposal at the CSCM meeting.

The Italian delegate, Ms. M.C. Ioannucci, presented a summary of the memoranda prepared by Morocco, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, France, Malta, and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the subject: Co-development and partnership – the question of direct investment and the debt problem. After a brief exchange of views, the participants agreed to submit the summary to their respective parliaments for action to be taken on the recommendations in the report. Their comments and subsequent action relating to the report would then be submitted to the Secretariat and discussed at the next CSCM meeting to be held in Geneva.

The parties accepted the request for affiliation submitted by the Parliament of Germany to become the twelfth associate participant in the process.

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Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 108th Conference and related meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union" in PDF format (file size approximately 380K). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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