Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has proposed the setting up of an economic and social council of the Mediterranean with the participation of economic and social partners in the decision-making process. This would mirror the experience achieved so successfully in the European Union he said, adding that Malta was launching this initiative on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaty which set up the EU.

Dr Frendo was speaking at a forum held by the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Osservatorio del Mediterraneo at the Campidoglio, marking the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaty.

He said that notwithstanding the challenges of the European enterprise, it was a reality of modernity representing an active single market and freedom of movement of goods, capital, services and people. He made reference to the difficulties encountered to ratify the new Treaty on a Constitution for Europe and said that it was up to them to make the Berlin Declaration a springboard for a renewed process of institutional and regulatory reform.

The minister insisted that one should never forget the importance of the Mediterranean dimension of Europe and said that the development of Informal Meetings of the Foreign Ministers of the Mediterranean EU states had the aim of keeping Mediterranean issues high on the agenda of every European presidency.

Malta believed there was an urgent need for a structured pre-emptive dialogue between member states of the European Union and the Arab League, focusing on the politics of moderation, energy security, climate change and development, he said.

Minister Frendo also dealt with the issue of illegal immigration and said that the problem had to be addressed through a triangular cooperation mechanism involving countries of origin, transit and destination. The EU and UN had a role to play here as well.