The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean is a forum of the parliaments of the region where they come together and act to accomplish those common objectives towards the creation of the best political, social, economic and cultural environment and conditions for the fellow citizens of the member states.
PAM is a regional interstate organisation, an Observer at the General Assembly of the United Nations, with a specific international juridical status. The Assembly plays a fundamental role as an organisation whose activities are firmly rooted as a complementary asset to the work of other regional and international organisations, bodies and authorities entrusted with the responsibility to foster security, stability and peace in the Mediterranean.
The organisation was founded in 2005 as a result of fifteen years of cooperation among the countries of the Mediterranean area, via the process under the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, also known as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean. The cooperation was focused on the topics of common interest, such as political, socio-economic and environmental issues.
Over a short period, PAM has established itself as the main actor in parliamentary diplomacy in the region, and its commitment to the founding principles and its Charter, is guaranteed by the continued support of all its member parliaments.
Through PAM, political dialogue and understanding between the Member States and their citizens is strengthened and this is achieved by the following:
- fostering and building confidence among Mediterranean States;
- guaranteeing regional security, stability and promoting peace;
- consolidating the endeavours of Mediterranean States;
- presenting opinions and recommendations to national parliaments and governments, regional organisations and international fora.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean has 27 Member States: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Syria, Macedonia, Tunisia and Turkey. Romania is an Associate Member and partnering states and organisations are as follows: San Marino, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Holy See, United Nations system, Interparliamentary Union, the Arab League, Arab Inter-parliamentary Union, the Arab Parliament, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UNESCO, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Ana Lind Foundation (ALF), Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC, PUOICM), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Association of the Mediterranean Regulators for Electricity and Gas (MEDREG), Mediterranean Foundation and Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI).
PAM is a parliamentary organisation in the authentic sense, which operates autonomously from the executive authority of its countries, as well as from other regional organisations that the regional countries' parliaments participate in. Furthermore, it represents a platform for exchanging views and reaching decisions on issues of regional interest (legally non-binding, in the form of resolutions). As a centre of the regional parliamentary diplomacy, PAM is a unique forum, whose membership is open exclusively for Mediterranean countries, which are represented on equal footing.
The organisation’s goals are oriented towards overcoming regional problems such as ongoing and frozen conflicts, organised crime, illegal migration, forced migration, energy supply availability, changes in sea levels, desertification, sea pollution, conservation of natural resources and other. PAM achieves these goals through the adoption of joint recommendations and creation of a cooperation platform for the purpose of finding solutions to these problems.
The work format of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean at the annual level consists of meetings of working groups of standing committees, joint meeting of three standing committees, which serves as a preparation for plenary session and the plenary session itself. Each working group adopts a report on the topic defined for that year, followed by appropriate resolution. The Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly is held once a year in one of the PAM members states, and in line with a common agreement reached at each of the sessions. Every parliament is represented in the Parliamentary Assembly by no more than five national delegation members with equal voting and decision-making powers, while in practice the decisions are made by consensus (acclamation) after the debate. The Secretariat is headquartered in Malta, Saint Julian's.
PAM conducts the bulk of its work within three standing committees: the First standing committee on political and security cooperation, the Second standing committee on economic, social and environmental issues, and the Third standing committee on dialogue among civilisations and human rights. PAM may also set up ad hoc committees or special task forces for particular topics (e.g. the Middle East, migration, free trade, terrorism, climate change, natural resources management, energy, gender issues etc.). Even though reports and resolutions adopted by PAM are not legally binding by themselves, they are means of “soft democracy” when it comes to parliaments, governments and civil society in the region.
Furthermore, Parliamentary Assembly is engaged in cooperation with regional academic networks, primarily with regard to the promotion of studying the topics of regional interest. For that purpose, the Assembly also presents the “Mediterranean Award” to public figures with special merits regarding cooperation in the Mediterranean region, and it also established the Day of the Mediterranean – 21 March, as an opportunity to highlight the regional identity and the profile of the organisation by organising various celebrations prepared by national parliaments on those occasions.
