Brussels, 07/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission, ministers from nine EU partner countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon and Syria), the Dutch EU Presidency and Italy, which hosted the meeting, have signed the Caserta Declaration whereby they adopt the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise. Mediterranean partners thus undertake to give the entrepreneurial spirit and competitiveness a very high priority in their political agenda. The Commission considers "the event marks a historic step in the Barcelona process of regional partnership, as the partners of the region signed a common document for the first time".
The Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise contains the principles for developing enterprise in areas including administrative simplification, access to finance for SMEs and education for entrepreneurship. The Commission will monitor its implementation, which will be benchmarked against indicators and targets that will be fixed by the partners themselves. The adoption of the Charter also launches a far-reaching process of exchange of good practices. A complementary issue raised was cooperation and in particular the assistance given to private sector development in the region. The conference was provided with comprehensive information on the MEDA-funded cooperation activities for industrial and private sector development, both at regional and bilateral level. Since the beginning of the Barcelona process in 1995, over EUR 1.6 billion has been allocated to this. The main objective of these MEDA-supported activities is to assist Mediterranean partners in preparing themselves for the EuroMed free trade zone by means of a more competitive and business friendly environment. Recent data indicate that policy cooperation in the region is too weak, and that protectionist attitudes have to be overcome with a view to creating the Euro-Med Free Trade Area by 2010.
Important decisions were also made on crucial issues at sectoral level. Ministers decided to find common solutions to ensure the competitiveness of the textile and clothing sector. Pan-Euro-Mediterranean dialogue will be promoted in this sector, which will be subject to increased pressure in terms of global competitiveness, following the dismantling of the Multi-Fibre Agreement at WTO level, which is scheduled for the beginning of 2005.