Brussels, 08/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 9 December, Brussels will host the 8th meeting of the trade ministers of the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership: the 27 EU member states, plus the 16 partners countries from the Mediterranean rim and the Middle East (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Montenegro, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey). Under the auspices of Swedish Minister Ewa Björling, her French and Egyptian counterparts Anne-Marie Idrac and Rachid Mohammed Rachid and Trade Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, ministers will take stock of negotiations on the creation of a Mediterranean free-trade area, scheduled for completion in 2010. They will also adopt a roadmap for Mediterranean trade after 2010, the aim being to speed up the development of trade and investment in the area, to reduce non-tariff barriers and to provide businesses with more concrete information on trade and investment opportunities in the region. A protocol establishing a dispute settlement mechanism with Tunisia will be signed, and two similar protocols with Jordan and Morocco will be initialled. Ministers are expected to call for the conclusion in 2010 of the bilateral talks on liberalising services and the right of establishment with Egypt, Israel, Morocco and Tunisia that have been going on since 2008. Ministers are also expected to approve the single regional convention on preferential rules of origin for the whole Euro-Med region, to replace the current network of bilateral protocols on rules of origin. The convention will take account of the inclusion of the Western Balkans in the pan-EuroMediterranean area. (E.H./transl.rt)