Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Evora/Geneva, 24 June 1998
N° 1

ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ON AGENDA OF IPU MEETING IN PORTUGAL

At the invitation of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the world organisation of parliaments, will hold a specialised meeting on 25-26 June 1998, in Evora, Portugal, to discuss "Facilitating access to information and cultural exchanges in the Mediterranean."

Taking place on the premises of the University of Evora, the meeting will bring together the representatives of the national parliaments that are part of the IPU's CSCM process* to promote security and co-operation in the Mediterranean-essentially, the Mediterranean basin countries and those with a particular involvement in the region. The Evora meeting is the second thematic meeting in preparation for the IIIrd Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean (IIIrd CSCM), which is scheduled to take place in late 1999, in Tunis.

The IPU's CSCM process aims at fostering a genuine comprehensive project in the Mediterranean underlaid by a sense of communal interest, backed up by human and financial resources.

"The main feature of this process," according to Pierre Cornillon, IPU Secretary General, "is that it involves all the Mediterranean partners, without exception and on an equal footing, thus making it possible for all Mediterraneans to draft a Mediterranean policy tailored to the specific characteristics and needs of the region."

The Evora meeting will begin with an inaugural ceremony on Thursday 25 June, at 14.30 in the Refeitório Antigo of Evora University. Delegates will be addressed at this time by Mr Luis Filipe Madeira, President of the Portuguese Group of the IPU, who will also chair the meeting, and Mr Miguel Angel Martínez (Spain), President of the IPU Council (governing body). The working session of the meeting will start immediately after the inauguration, at 15.00, in the same room, and will continue through the close of the meeting, on Friday 26 June, at 18.00-18.30. There will be a summing-up of the debates just before the meeting's end.

Two resource persons will launch the debates: Professor José Carlos Zorrinho, former Portuguese parliamentarian, Coordenador do Programa Pró-Alentejo, Centro Comercial da Vista Alegre, and Mr Alain Maudoux, Director, Unit for Freedom of Expression and Democracy, UNESCO.

Security and co-operation in the Mediterranean have for many years been key concerns for the IPU. After having held seven Inter-Parliamentary Conferences on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE, 1973-1991), the IPU saw the need for a similar process to respond to the specific problems and challenges existing in the Mediterranean region. A first Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean (Ist CSCM) was held in Malaga (Spain) in 1992 and brought together, on an equal footing, all of the Mediterranean countries. The Malaga Conference laid out a series of common values and principles to govern intra-Mediterranean relations, and led to a permanent mechanism for dialogue and negotiation among all of the Mediterranean partners in the form of twice-yearly meetings during statutory Inter-Parliamentary Conferences. A IInd CSCM took place in Valletta (Malta) in 1995, and the IPU is preparing a IIIrd CSCM (Tunis, 1999) through a series of thematic meetings. The first of these was held in Monaco in July 1997, and focused on ways to further co-operation on employment policies. Evora is the second thematic meeting, and a third will take place in Ljubljana in March 1999, at the invitation of the Parliament of Slovenia, on security matters.

The IPU deals with the many CSCM issues in three "Baskets": I - Political and Security-related Co-operation: Regional Stability; II - Economic Co-operation: Co-development and Partnership; III - Dialogue among Civilisations and Human Rights. The topic of the Evora meeting comes under the third basket. The process is co-ordinated by a group of representatives of the Parliaments of Egypt, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia which will also meet in Evora.

The IPU will also be present at the Universal Exposition in Lisbon, EXPO '98, which participants in the meeting will also visit on Saturday 27 June.

The IPU, which currently has 137 member parliaments, is the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue on issues of international concern.

* Parties to the CSCM process:

As main participants, the Parliaments of the following countries: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey, Yugoslavia.

As associate participants: (i) the Parliaments of the Russian Federation, of the United Kingdom, and of the United States of America; (ii) Palestine; (iii) Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Assembly of the Western European Union, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Consultative Council of the Arab Maghreb Union, European Parliament, Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation.

For more information, contact:
Mrs Christine Pintat (or another member of the IPU staff) at Evora University Tel: (351.66) 740.823/863/864.