Local and regional leaders from Europe and Mediterranean partner countries have called for cities and regions to have a central role in delivering the EU’s Pact for the Mediterranean.
The pledge was set out in a report adopted on 27 October by the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) during its plenary session in Tirana, Albania, the European Committee of the Regions informed on Tuesday.
The report was drafted by Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, President of the Assembly of Corsica, and Jamal Abu Obeid, Mayor of Greater Ramtha in Jordan.
The Pact for the Mediterranean was launched in November 2025 and names ARLEM as “a key institutional channel for regional and local contributions.” The report is titled "Delivering the Pact for the Mediterranean with Local and Regional Authorities."
The European Commission will involve ARLEM in contributing to the Pact’s implementation through its rolling Action Plan, the CoR said.
In a video address, European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica said the Action Plan was updated after a first version launched in April, and that ARLEM’s secretariat had been invited to a Senior Officials’ Meeting where the next version would be presented.
ARLEM award goes to Tunisian MedTech start-up
The plenary meeting ended with the announcement of the 2026 ARLEM Award for Young Local Entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean, according to the European Committee of the Regions.
The prize went to Nada Ghammem for her Tunisian MedTech start-up Bionic Soul, which designs and manufactures prosthetics locally for Africa and the Middle East.
The award also recognised the local authority that supported the project — Caisse des dépôts et consignations de Tunisie — and the cooperation boosted local employment.
A total of 53 applications from 12 countries in the southern Mediterranean were submitted for this year’s award, with 37 from male entrepreneurs and 16 from female entrepreneurs.
ARLEM also agreed to prepare a report on “The new Mediterranean Youth Skills and Jobs Initiative: Unlocking opportunities through local and regional action”, with Helin Yildiz, a councillor from Varese in Italy, and Abdelaziz Derouiche, President of Rabat Prefectural Council, named as co-rapporteurs.
