<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Ninth Summit of Presidents and the Eighteenth Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PAUfM) will be held in Malaga from June 25-27, according to the Congress.</strong></h4> The dual meeting will conclude the annual Spanish Presidency of the PAUfM, which will move to Egypt. It will bring together presidents and heads of delegation from national parliaments and the European Union to address the political, social, and environmental challenges of the Mediterranean. The Ninth Summit of Presidents will take place on Thursday, June 26. The opening session will be led by the President of the Congress of Deputies, Francina Armengol; the First Vice President of the Senate, Pedro Rollán; the President of the Moroccan Chamber of Representatives, Rachid Talbi El Alami; the Speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives, Hanafy Gibaly; and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. Following the speeches by the chairs and heads of delegations, the closing session will begin, during which the Declaration of the Summit of Presidents will be adopted. <h5><strong>18th Plenary Session</strong></h5> The Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean will be held on Friday, June 27. The opening session will also feature Francina Armengol, Pedro Rollán, Rachid Talbi El Alami, and Hanafy Gibaly. This will be followed by the presentation and adoption of the recommendations and proposals of the Committees and the Working Group on the Financing of the Assembly and the Review of the Rules of Procedure. Specifically, the Committee on Political Affairs, Security and Human Rights (European Parliament); the Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs, Social Affairs and Education (Turkey); the Committee on Quality of Life, Civil Society and Culture (Morocco); the Committee on Women's Rights (Italy); the Committee on Energy, Environment and Water (Portugal); and the Working Group on Assembly Financing and Review of the Rules of Procedure (European Parliament). The closing session will include the transfer of the Assembly's presidency, with speeches by the First Vice-President of the Senate, Javier Maroto, Francina Armengol, and Hanafy Gibaly, the new President of the Assembly. <h5><strong>Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean</strong></h5> The Union for the Mediterranean, initially known as the "Barcelona Process: Euro-Mediterranean Partnership," is an international organization that currently brings together 43 countries. It has a European component, comprising all the Member States of the European Union, and a Mediterranean component, comprising the countries of North Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PAUM) was created with the mission of assisting, promoting, and contributing to the consolidation and development of the Barcelona Process. Currently, the four co-presidencies of the Assembly for the 2020-2026 period are made up of the European Parliament, the Moroccan Parliament, the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament), and the Egyptian Parliament. The theme chosen by the Spanish presidency for the 2024-2025 meetings is the migration situation in the Mediterranean from a comprehensive perspective. On this basis, the Cortes Generales held sectoral meetings during its presidency to address all issues related to migration movements in a cross-cutting manner. These meetings were attended by the presidents and vice presidents of the APUpM member parliaments, as well as other invited international organizations. In January, Lanzarote hosted the meeting of the presidents of parliaments from the South of the EU and North Africa, at which a joint declaration was adopted to address economic, humanitarian, and development policies to more effectively manage migration flows. Last March, the King inaugurated the Forum on the Future of the Mediterranean, held in Granada. Parliamentary representatives from the Member States met to discuss migration, climate change, youth employment, and gender equality in the Mediterranean region, among other issues.
