Towns, Municipalities, Regions and other Authorities belonging to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (15 Countries of the European Union and 12 non European Union Mediterranean Countries taking part in the Conference of Barcelona on 27-28 November, 1995) hereby express their will to create a working group and commit themselves to cooperate in order to achieve the targets of the Barcelona Declaration and other documents, both through the Meda Programme and through other financial instruments of the European Union.
According to the documents relating to the three Mediterranean Conferences – which, however, do not provide either how or in what extents – local and regional authorities play a fundamental role in order to implement the Euro-Mediterranean partnership. An annual Meeting (no further definitions are provided) of the Towns belonging to the partnership will also be held.
In order to guarantee the continuity and the disciplining of the cooperation between local and regional authorities within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, the local and regional authorities will set forth some basic operational regulations to be complied with.

• Art. 1
A “Standing Committee” is hereby created by Towns, Municipalities, Regions and other Authorities adhering thereto.
• Art. 2
The “Standing Committee” will be a working instrument and a guideline for the partnership and will seek to establish a relationship of a “consultative” nature with the European Commission and with other institutions of the European Union.
• Art. 3.1
The “Standing Committee” will be made up of 86 members (*) who will be appointed at local and regional level, with a responsibility in front of an elected Assembly (for example: Councillor) or responsible towards local or regional Authorities. They will be appointed personally by the national representative Associations. In the absence of the mentioned Associations they will be entitled to adhere directly and the Chairman Office will be in charge of determining whether the candidates can be admitted to the “Standing Committee” as per article 4.2.
• Art. 3.2
The members will be appointed in compliance with a) the presence of the several institutional levels, b) equal opportunities between men and women, and c) territorial and political balances.
• Art. 3.3
The members will be appointed for a term of four years and may be re-elected. In case a member should not be re-elected (see the article 3.1) as a consequence he/she will no longer be entitled to be considered as part of the “Standing Committee”.
• Art. 3.4
One substitute member will be appointed for each representative member according to the same provisions indicated in the paragraphs here above. The substitute members will always be entitled to take part in the meetings, with right to vote when the representative members are absent.
• Art. 3.5
No remuneration will be provided in relation with the duties that will be performed within the framework of the “Standing Committee”.
• Art. 4.1
The “Standing Committee” will appoint a Chairman among its representative members for a period of two years. The appointment will be approved by the majority of the present members. Furthermore, one or more Vice-Chairmen (of whom just a first Vice-Chairman) may be appointed in accordance with the same conditions as mentioned above. The Chairman and the Vice-Chairmen may be re-elected. In case the President is from a European Union countries, the first Vice President has to be from a non European Union Mediterranean countries and vice versa.
• Art. 4.2:
The Chairman Office of the “Standing Committee” will be made up of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairmen together with other Commissions’ chairmen. At the Chairman Office Presidents of the working Groups might be invited (see art. 5.1).
• Art. 5.1
In order to perform its duties for the better, the “Standing Committee” will be organized in “Commissions” or working “Groups” which will report deliberations to the same Committee.
• Art. 5.2
The “Standing Committee” will resolve upon any matter related to the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, including those aspects concerning organization, procedure, and political and institutional guidance.
• Art. 6
: The “Standing Committee” will be convened by the Chairman, after hearing the Chairman Office, and will be held one or more times a year and convene an annual Mediterranean Conference of local and regional Authorities and will be freely opened to anybody wishing to attend.
• Art. 7
The Secretarial duties will be performed by the Regional Sicilian Section of AICCRE, in cooperation with the Sicily Region. The Secretarial will be located in Palermo.
• Art. 8.1
The costs incurred in order to take part in the works of the “Standing Committee” (plenary session and “Commissions” or working “Groups”) will be charged to the attendees.
• Art. 8.2
The Chairman Office will be responsible for providing organizing and economic-financial solutions in order to avoid any charge for the members of the “Standing Committee”.

(*) Distribution of the seats within the framework of the Standing Committee of local and regional Authorities:

Austria Belgium Denmark Greece Finland France Ireland Italy Luxembourg The Netherlands German Federal Republic Spain Portugal United Kingdom Sweden	2 seats 2 seats 2 seats 2 seats 2 seats 6 seats 2 seats 6 seats 1 seats 2 seats 6 seats 5 seats 2 seats 6 seats 2 seats 48 seats
Algeria Cyprus Egypt Israel Jordan Lebanon Malta Marocco Palestine Syria Tunisia Turkey	5 seats 1 seats 6 seats 2 seats 2 seats 2 seats 1 seats 5 seats 2 seats 4 seats 2 seats 6 seats 38 seats