The Spanish city of Valencia hosted the 5th Euro-Med conference of the foreign ministers of the fifteen member countries of the EU and of the twelve countries of the southern littoral of the Mediterranean from 22 to 23 April. The results of the conference, contained in two documents (one the conclusions of the presidency, the other an action plan adopted unanimously, in spite of the Middle East crisis), represent, according to Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué, “a new political impulse to the Barcelona process, a blueprint that permits the objectives set out by the Barcelona conference in 1995 to be realized”. The short- and mid-term measures provided by the action plan include a programme of cooperation in judicial matters and internal affairs, which comprises actions against drug trafficking, illegal immigration, organized crime and terrorism, as well as the decision to convene as soon as possible a conference dedicated exclusively to migratory flows and set up an agency to monitor employment and migration with its seat in Tunis. The action plan also envisages the establishment of a “Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly” and a “Euro-Mediterranean Foundation” aimed at promoting intercultural dialogue between both shores of the Mediterranean. The 6th EuroMed Conference will be held in the second half of 2003, under Italian presidency.
