Brussels, 11/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Recent events on the southern shores of the Mediterranean have “highlighted the need for a European strategy to help giving economic and employment perspectives to new generations; a prerequisite for democracy, stability and governance of migration flows”, said Antonio Tajani, vice-president of the European Commission in charge of enterprise policy, before leaving for Malta, where he is attending the euro-Mediterranean ministerial meeting on support for SMEs (see yesterday's EUROPE).
The objective of the ministerial meeting is to prepare and decide upon regional strategies for growth and employment, reinforcing industrial cooperation, market integration and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship and SMEs, Tajani explained. The European Commission intends to create “SME support centres” in some of the countries of the southern Mediterranean, as well as the cooperation planned in the framework of the Small Business Act. Tajani also announced that the Commission would help to speed the creation of the euro-Mediterranean single market, the creation and development of local SMEs and improving inward European investment in these countries.
Basically, the ministerial session will debate a working programme for euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation for 2011-2012. It will be non-binding. The catalogue of actions and projects which will be presented will be implemented without systematic EU involvement. The mobilisation of the resources required will be from the national budget of each country and the private sector and the EU, like the other donors, will decide on its involvement on a case-by-case basis. “Depending on the funding available, the European Commission may support them, if they correspond to the priorities laid down in the bilateral, regional and cross-border programmes of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).”
The essential thing will be to prepare for the “creation of a Euro-Mediterranean free-trade area, together with a raft of well-coordinated policies, including the alignment of legislation and removing non-tariff barriers to trade, which will give the Mediterranean countries the advantages of increased integration. 'South-South' economic integration is also very important and deserves to be encouraged in order to diversify trade, reinforce industrial integration and stimulate European investment in the Mediterranean countries, due to the potential size of an integrated Mediterranean market.” (F.B./transl.fl)