On 4 February, MedCities gave its backing to a new initiative for the promotion of cooperation and sustainable development in the Mediterranean when it signed the Mediterranean Cooperation Alliance Joint Declaration.

The declaration aims to brings together the principal networks of local and regional governments in the Mediterranean to work together on joint projects while, at the same time, valuing the varying strategies and cooperation initiatives being developed in the region. Along with MedCities, it was signed by the Intermediterranean Commission (IMC) of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, the Pyrenees-Mediterranean Euroregion, the Adriatic Ionian Euroregion and Latin Arc. The declaration is also supported by the Union for the Mediterranean.

The Alliance calls on the European Union and other state and multilateral actors in the field of cooperation to allocate more resources and dedicate specific programs to support local and regional governments, along with increasing their level of coordination. It also constitutes a framework for cooperation which is open to other institutions and organisations that share its principals.

The initiative was signed at an international seminar on ‘The Future of the Mediterranean Region after 2020′, held in Barcelona on 4 February, which was organised by the regional Catalan Government, the Pyranees-Mediterranean Euroregion and the IMC.

The full declaration can be downloaded below.