Brussels, 29/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The trade ministers of the countries engaged in the Barcelona Process met on Tuesday 29 May in Brussels at the invitation of European Commissioner Pascal Lamy. The (informal) meeting had the dual aim of making a broad assessment of Euro-Mediterranean trade and trade between partner countries (intra-Mediterranean trade) and also that of opening up the road to consultation on the prospects of global trade with a view to the next WTO ministerial conference, in November, in Doha. Most trade ministers of the 27 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean area were present except, on the partner country side, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt who were represented by the ambassadors in Brussels.
The ministers mainly decided to institutionalise this kind of meeting with the annual organisation of a formal meeting of trade ministers. Three working groups were created and should give their conclusions before the end of the year. They will cover: - services, rules of origin, and the legal framework for trade and investment. EUROPE will come back to this.