An Ideal Constitution for Mediterranean Countries

Promoting and following a process of cultural and legal elaboration that is able to lead to the realization of an ideal Mediterranean Constitution.

This is the theme that was discussed at the conference 'Democracy and Parliamentarianism in the Mediterranean Area,' sponsored by the Center for Mediterranean Parliamentary Studies - CESPAM - of the University of Naples Federico II and the Chairman of the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, which was held at Palazzo Montecitorio, on the occasion of the International Day of the Mediterranean Sea, which is celebrated on July 8.

The meeting was attended by Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana, who opened the proceedings, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who was entrusted with the conclusions, Federico II Rector Matteo Lorito, Nazario Pagano, chairman of the Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, CESPAM founding member and Federico II Professor of Constitutional Law Sandro Staiano, Federiciani Alberto Lucarelli and Davide Ambroselli, CESPAM President and Director respectively, along with Daniel Azzopardi, Ambassador of Malta to Italy, Mickael Bounakhla, counselor Embassy of France in Italy, Giulio Centemero, president PAM (Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean), Mohamed Khelifi, ambassador of Algeria to Italy, Dario Parrini, head of the Pd group Senate Constitutional Affairs Committee, and Eleni Sourani, ambassador of Greece to Italy.

In attendance were numerous members of the diplomatic world, House apparatuses and individual parliamentarians.

The CESPAM Center intends to promote a multilateral platform for discussion among parliaments, universities, civil societies and international institutions in the Mediterranean region; to initiate the participatory drafting of an ideal Mediterranean Constitutional Charter inspired by the principles of pluralist democracy and affirming the values of the centrality of the human person, dignity and solidarity, enhancing the factors of cultural commonality, and respecting the diversity and specificity of individual systems; to build normative and symbolic tools capable of guiding institutional action in contexts of environmental, migratory, political and social crises.

"The Chamber of Deputies was pleased to host the meeting to explore the dynamics of a strategic area such as the Mediterranean basin. I think it is a valuable opportunity for reflection," said President Lorenzo Fontana. In such a delicate scenario, it is essential to foster parliamentary diplomacy in every forum. I am deeply convinced that it can contribute in a concrete way to preventing wars, resolving them and building peace."

"The enhancement of the Mediterranean is a fundamental aspect of our foreign policy, of our trade policy, of our economic policy," highlighted the minister, Antonio Tajani. "It is an extraordinary resource that we cannot let turn into a graveyard of migrants. We would like the Mediterranean to be able to resume being a sea where goods pass, where there can be, also thanks to a work of strengthening democracy, a peaceful relationship between all the countries that border this area."

"CESPAM organized the first major event after the presentation at the University of Naples Federico II," Sandro Staiano stressed, "the goal was to give foundation to a system of relations between Parliaments and Universities of the Mediterranean, for which CESPAM has realized an intense relationship with PAM, a parliamentary body recognized by the United Nations, to write a Mediterranean Constitution. Taking stock, it can be said that this goal has been achieved."

"The Mediterranean for millennia has been a crossroads of peoples, of trade, of travel," pointed out Nazario Pagano, chairman of the Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, "never before as in these troubled times do I think it is necessary to discuss and initiate a dialogue that starts from the bottom, from civil societies, from Universities, to start common paths and to identify traits of a Mediterranean identity is fundamental.

The fundamental principles of the text of a Mediterranean Constitution include rootedness in Mediterranean civilization, recognition of cultural plurality, and adherence to the universal principles of human rights. A dialogue to which universities in the Mediterranean area can and should contribute by virtue of existing relations. "The Italian university system can make a great contribution to building Mediterranean citizens, which is the great goal," said the rector, Matteo Lorito, "and that is why university diplomacy is always at work and, especially in times of conflict, such as the one we are experiencing, it is always important to leave the doors open: more democracy also means more inter-university agreements.

Alberto Lucarelli emphasized the need to "initiate a process of participatory drafting from below of an ideal Mediterranean constitutional charter inspired by the principles of pluralist democracy and the centrality of the person, in the awareness that this is an ambitious project," and Davide Ambroselli, CESPAM director, highlighted how "migration crises, conflicts, and inequalities can make the Mediterranean a place of fracture, but its history, cultural richness, and the strength of the younger generations can make it a laboratory of constitutionalism. We have a duty to rediscover common legacies and turn them into a shared project."