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A.
Turin Water Meetings
On
the 18th of October there was a meeting of
Director-Generals for Water and on the 19th there was a
Ministerial Conference. Although the CdS had been invited
to the technical session, which was viewed as a
disappointment, Mr. Ayman Rabi (PHG) with the inputs of
some other members of the Committee, including MIO-ECSDE,
prepared a statement (see relevant web-page
and/or the next issue of Sustainable
Mediterranean) and presented it. MIO-ECSDE was
represented by its Chairman who also participated in the
Global Water Network/MEDTAC meeting which followed the
mentioned meetings.
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B.
LIFE WEEK: Life to the
Mediterranean
A
session entitled “LIFE to the Mediterranean” co-organised
by MIO-ECSDE and MED Forum was held on 23/10/1999,
11:15-13:00, during the LIFE Week Conference and
Exhibition organised by EC DGXI, (20-23/10/1999).
The
event was held at the European Commission, Charlemagne
Building, in Brussels and around 130 people attended the
session.
Chair:
Prof. M. Scoullos (MIO-ECSDE), Prof. Zohir Sekkal (MED
Forum)
Speakers: B. Julien (EC DG XI), M. Scoullos (MIO-ECSDE), X.
Cisneros (MED Forum), T. Nantsou (WWF Greece), N.
Kardaraki (HOS), S. L. Penedo (Ecologistas en Accion)
During
the session a position paper (see www.mio-ecsde.org
and/or the up-coming issue of Sustainable
Mediterranean) was presented by the co-organisers
which was well accepted by all present. The outcome of the
meeting can briefly be summarised as follows:
The
Commission should see Life within the larger framework of
the EU Mediterranean Policy
The Commission should play a part in enforcing national
and local governments to remain true to their commitments
Within Life III a “starter facility”, i.e. a fund for
the preparation of a proposal, has been foreseen for
trans-frontier projects.
NGOs
should pool their efforts concerning Life
It was reminded that NGO differ in their structure and
need genuine support not only when applying for Life
projects but within the overall EU environmental policy
and program area
NGO networks must continue their efforts concerning the
heavy burden of the bank guarantee required also by NGOs
when submitting a Life proposal. However, individually,
all NGOs can contribute by addressing their governments on
this issue as it is in the hands of the Member States and
not the Commission
Training, follow-up work, etc. can be facilitated by
existing NGO networks or new ones
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C.
The Malta meetings
The
Mediterranean NGOs for the Ratification of the Barcelona
Convention and its Protocols.
The
meeting was convoked by MED Forum and MIO-ECSDE and was
organised by ECO Malta and Nature Trust Malta. It was held
in Qawra on October 24-25, 1999 and was attended by NGO
participants from around the Mediterranean. The purpose of
the meeting was to produce a statement, which will help in
reversing the current situation, which sadly is that only
one of the 21 Contracting Parties (20 states and the EU)
has ratified all of the agreements! A minimum of 6
Contracting Parties ratifying the amended Convention
(1995) is necessary in order to have it come into force. A
statement was therefore prepared entitled “Bring the
Convention into force now!” (see www.mio-ecsde.org
and/or the up-coming issue of Sustainable
Development) and was presented to the Eleventh
Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties of the
Barcelona Convention held in Malta 27-30 October, 1999.
The
Eleventh Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to
the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea
against Pollution and its Protocols. Qawra, Malta 27-30
October
The
meeting, which had the highest representation of
Contracting Parties ever, was the usual MAP/UNEP
conference with little substantial output and without
success in increasing its budget.However, the meeting will
be remembered by the totally unacceptable way in which the
election of the MCSD Management Board and particularly its
NGO members was handled by the Bureau.
In
fact, it was a profound violation of the Independence of
MCSD, an “annexing” and downgrading of it. Although
the Secretariat had previous to the meeting asked for
written nominations to be submitted by a specific date –
there is a provision in the by-laws for these nominations
to be made by NGO Networks which should be represented in
priority – nothing was respected and Governments
intervened lobbying for specific NGOs and against others.
MIO-ECSDE
and MED Forum had made the requested nominations within
the deadlines. However, the sequence of events was
unexpectedly as follows:
(a)
the introduction of new criteria about arbitrary limits
for renewal of representation not known in advance.
(b)
Introduction, without prior written nomination, by
Governments, of NGO candidatures at the last moment of
organisations marginally eligible to be considered as
environmental NGOs
In one of them the Governments and Governmental
Institutions have the majority and only WWF is an NGO in
its Board.
The other is practically an academic institution.
WWF
was reflected in the Management Board. MED Forum was
included because in the previous MB it had appeared
formally as Eco Mediterrania. MIO-ECSDE which has played
everything honest and open was left out, victim of the new
rules invented “ad hoc” and “in situ” and of the
pressure of some Governments to include certain
institutions in the NGO representation.
It is also unacceptable that the results of the vote were
not even announced to the Plenary but were circulated in
writing when the item was no longer under discussion.
MIO-ECSDE and other NGOs were both astonished and deeply
disappointed by this attitude. However, MIO-ECSDE did not
want to react in the meeting or out outside it, because it
never considered its participation in the Management Board
as a reward but as an additional obligation for service.
Nevertheless, the messages of the meeting are deeply
demoralising and head toward the opposite direction of the
one promised under public participation.
Perhaps it is not a coincidence that MIO-ECSDE was the
successful Task Manager of the relevant Working Group,
which because it has delivered with minimum support was
abolished again against the wish of the Working Group
itself and with a lot of corridor interventions!!!!!
In
view of these developments, MIO-ECSDE although it will
continue its support to the Barcelona Convention in
general, it will follow the performance of the UNEP/MAP,
its Bureau and Secretariat as well as the MCSD and will
report accordingly to its members and the wider public.
Apart
from the joint presentation of the NGO statement by MIO-ECSDE
and MED Forum, the Chairman of MIO-ECSDE addressed the
meeting with a statement on behalf of MIO-ECSDE (see www.mio-ecsde.org
and/or the up-coming issue of Sustainable
Development).
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D.
13th Executive Bureau meeting of MIO-ECSDE
The
13th Executive Bureau
meeting of MIO-ECSDE took place in Malta during the
afternoon of the 25th of October. The matters discussed
were among others: the final details of the upcoming MSWM
Conference in Cairo co-organised by RAED, MIO-ECSDE and
Envirothech (6-8 December 1999), the agenda of the 4rth
Annual General Meeting of MIO-ECSDE, also to be held in
Cairo on the 7th of December, the progress of the Annual
Programme of Activities as the year is near its end and
issues pertaining to the MIO-ECSDE representation in the
11th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the
Barcelona Convention.
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E.
Mediterranean Action Weekend
The
membership involvement in the Mediterranean
Action Weekend was not as was expected as most
organisations proved to be too busy to fit the action in
their already cramped schedules. Those member NGOs that
did participate were mostly small NGOs all of which, in
fact, not only did an excellent job but expressed that
they would like to see more participatory joint events of
this kind as it offered the opportunity to approach local
populations and invite them to take action. The outcome of
the Mediterranean Action Weekend will be exhibited during
the MSWM Conference in Cairo.
Member
NGOs that participated in the event were:
Albania:
PPNEA with Friends of the Prespa Lake
Egypt:
AOYE
Greece:
Elliniki Etairia and HAEEE
Malta:
Eco - Malta
Slovenia:
DPPVN
Spain:
Itaca and Mediterrania
More
information on the event shall be available on our web
site (www.mio-ecsde.org/projects/medday.htm)
and will be included in the next issue of Sustainable
Mediterranean.
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F.
Meeting with Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom
MIO-ECSDE,
along with all the major NGO networks in Europe was
invited to participate in a meeting with Environment
Commissioner Ms. Margot Wallstrom on November 19th 1999.
The Chairman of MIO-ECSDE, Prof. M. Scoullos attended the
meeting and also had the opportunity to have a brief
discussion individually with the Commissioner on the MIO-ECSDE
priorities and the Mediterranean scene in general. The
meeting was well attended and very successful. The
Commissioner promised to repeat it and keep it as a
regular event probably every six months. Ms. Wallstrom and
her staff were very open and straightforward.
The
Commissioner emphasised her top priorities (NGO relations
and cooperation, citizen’s health, water, chemicals,
climate change and enlargement) and expressed her
expectations for support from the NGOs. MIO-ECSDE
expressed its satisfaction for the fact that Environmental
Education is among them and emphasised the need for more
attention to the Mediterranean region.
Many
of the NGOs present emphasised the need for nature and
forests to also be included among the priorities.
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G.
Other Meetings attended by MIO-ECSDE
Foreign
Policy Talks: the Mediterranean Region – A challenge for
Europe, Vienna, 15-16 October. The meeting was addressed
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Chairman of MIO-ECSDE
was the only invited representative of environmental NGOs.
He prepared and presented a paper entitled: the
Evolution of European Environmental Policies in the
Mediterranean.
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