Thursday, 10 March 2011 - Strasbourg

Explanation of vote:

Pino Arlacchi (S&D) - Madam President, I voted in favour of the resolution. I would like to stress that the Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean, recently launched by the Commission, is a remarkable first step in the right direction.

The EU was largely absent at the beginning of the North African crisis and the transition to democracy, but now it seems to have started to be more active and more effective in this area.

[source: www.europarl.europa.eu]