Journalists from Mediterranean countries gathered at a conference in Italy to lay the groundwork for a network of journalists from the region and to petition the European Commission for assistance in creating it, according to a report from the European Journalism Centre (EJC).

Delegates at the conference, мConnecting Europe With Its Citizens,о held Dec. 4-5 in Matera, Italy, drafted a declaration to be sent to high officials of the European Commission and Parliament. They urged the European Commission to provide technical assistance and funds for a series of seminars, meetings, conferences, to lay a foundation for a website for Mediterranean journalists and a мMediterranean journalism networkо to operate from one of the countries taking part in the project.

The delegates, representatives of 28 European regional journalistsн associations, said it is imperative that European Union institutions assist in providing the means for them to cover European issues better.

The conference, organized by EJC of Maastricht, Netherlands, and the Associazione della Stampa di Basilicata of Italy, assembled journalists from Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Albania.

Delegates also agreed that a мPermanent Conference of the Journalists of the Mediterraneanо should convene yearly to establish a common basis of action and common policies. The full text of the declaration can be found on the EJC website at http://www.ejc.nl/declaration.html.For more information, contact RenatoCantore by e-mail at stampa.basilicata@memex.it.