Brussels, 03/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday evening, José Manuel Barroso was to present the leaders of Bulgaria and Romania, Boyko Borisov and Traian Basescu, with the North-South initiative, an energy infrastructure project which aims to interconnect and integrate energy sources from the Black, Adriatic and Baltic Seas, and to “ensure a diversified flow of energy in Central and Eastern Europe”. “The North-South will enhance the economic security of the region and the EU as a whole, and will also prepare the region to serve as an important gateway to import corridors coming from the Northern and Caspian regions”, the president of the European Commission explains in a press release. A high-level group, which will be chaired by Barroso, will be set in place to draft a detailed action plan with specific priority projects and necessary actions, together with cut-of dates for North-South electric, gas and oil interconnections. The European executive hopes to see this action plan approved the second half of this year. (E.H./transl.fl)