ROMANO PRODI Presidente della Commissione Europea Bruxelles,
16 giugno 2004
Carissimi,
Thank you, on behalf of myself and
the Member of the Commission responsible for External Relations, Chris
Patten, for your letter of 11 April 2004, in which you detail the objectives
of the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo.
I note with pleasure the similarity of the FLM’s
philosophy to that of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. At the recent
conference in Brussels on dialogue between peoples and cultures, at which we
had the opportunity to meet, I stressed during my intervention on
“Dialogue and shared values” and reiterate again that all actors are
needed in a pluralist approach to dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
As concerns your offer to host the recently launched
Euromed Foundation, you will be aware that the recent Euro-Mediterranean
Mid-Term Meeting of Foreign Ministers, held in Dublin on 5 and 6 May,
decided to accept the offer of Alexandria to host the Foundation.
The Presidency conclusions of the Dublin meeting also
indicated Ministers’ agreement that, in recognition of the offers made by
other countries to host the Foundation, it will in its activities with the
group of networks be particularly attentive to supporting events in those
countries. Ministers also welcomed the readiness of Italy and Malta to
provide special assistance to the Foundation during its starting phase.
Given that the FLM has been selected to head the
Italian Network, I have no Doubt that you will be called upon to play an
important role in supporting the first steps and further development of the
Euromed Foundation.
Con
molta amicizia,
Romano
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