This has been yet another intensive year for our organisation. I cannot but not start with the achievement of the Observer Status that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean has been granted to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean is a unique platform of parliamentary diplomacy, in that it brings together 25 parliaments and represents more than 500 million people, whilst being the only parliamentary forum dedicated to the Mediterranean Sea, where its members are represented on an equal footing.

The PAM’s primary mission is to assert the centrality of the Mediterranean area and reaffirm the key role of its Members in addressing their common interests and shared concerns through a forum that has been specifically created to serve that purpose.