Upon initiative of CEMR (Council of European
Municipalities and Regions) and ATO (Arab Towns Organization),
following the initial setting up of a regulation agreed upon at
Gaza (July 2000) by representatives of Local Administrations,
the Standing Committee for the Euro Mediterranean Partnership
of Local and Regional Authorities (COPPEM) was established on
the occasion of the 1st Plenary Assembly of its Members (Palermo,
27-28 November 2000).
In December 2002, on the occasion of the 3rd
Plenary Assembly, the COPPEM non-profit international association
has been formally adopted. It is composed of 101 full Members
and of 101 alternate Members, representing Municipalities, Provinces,
Local Authorities, and Regions of the 35 Euro-Mediterranean Countries,
for this purposes appointed by their national Associations. Full
Members are also the COPPEM Secretary General, a representative
of CEMR and a representative of ATO.
COPPEM Bodies are:
- the General Assembly
- the Presidency Council
- the President and Vice-Presidents
- the Secretary General
COPPEM Secretariat and its offices are based
in Palermo, Italy.
Both Sicily Region, through a special law, and
some local Institutions, have supported COPPEM operativeness since
the beginning.
In general, the purpose of COPPEM is to promote
both dialogue and cooperation for local development between towns,
municipalities, Local Authorities, and Regions of the member Countries
of the Euro Mediterranean Partnership, and their active and concrete
participation in achieving the objectives established within the
Barcelona Declaration of ’95, through MEDA programme and
the other financial means of the European Union and of the Public
and the Private Bodies of the States of the Euro-Mediterranean
area.
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