NAPLES: EUROPEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN SEMINAR

International Platform for Cooperation and Migration (IPCM) has been a collaborator in the international seminar of European Studies which was held in Naples (Italy), 17 to May 19, 2013. The title has been "Europe and the Mediterranean, European integration between crisis, dialogue and identity challenges". Organized by EFAL, MCL and EZA, with the collaboration of the Fondazione Italiana Europa Popolare and the Union of Mediterranean Studies Centers (UCEM), has been supported by the European Union.

Personalities participated such as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Mons. Twal Foad; the chairman of EZA, Mr. Bartho Pronk (Dutch); the president of the MCL, Mr. Carlo Costalli: theVice President of the Parliament of Austria, Mr. Fritz Neugebauer, and delegates of social organizations from Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Cyprus, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Bosnia-Herzegovina ...

The president of the IPCM, Mr. Rafael Rodriguez-Ponga (from Spain), delivered a presentation entitled "Migration and social integration in the context of the current crisis: prospects and problems". He explained the evolution of current migration trends, with special attention to Spain, where statistics show a decrease in the number of foreign residents and, simultaneously, an increase in the number of Spanish abroad. He defended the importance of the role and voice of NGO, as those grouped around IPCM or EZA, and the need to strengthen the institutions, especially national and European institutions in order to guarantee our freedoms.

The first vice PICM, Mr. Piergiorgio Sciaqua (from Italy), co-chairman of EZA, coordinated much of the work of the seminar. Also participated IPCM VP, Mrs. Maria Reina Martin, representing the Portuguese NGO FIDESTRA, and the treasurer, Josep Calvó (from Spain), chairman of UCEM. Also present were other members of IPCM, such as António Matos Cristovão, of CIFOTIE (Portugal), Francisco Dominguez, CST (Spain) and Chindasvinto Moreno, Humanism and Democracy (H+D, Spain).