Marrakech, 23/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - The transport minister of the European Union and the neighbouring countries of the Mediterranean, meeting in Marrakech for the first time on 15 December, laid emphasis on the need to step up cooperation in this area of the Partnership in order to ?feed into the sustainable economic and social development of the entire region?. This cooperation is one of the priorities of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The objective is to intensify cooperation with a view to ?increased integration? on either side of the Mediterranean Sea. Among the Marrakech recommendations features the implementation of a Euro-Mediterranean integrated and multi-modal transport network, helping to boost trade between the EU and the Mediterranean partners, and between the partners themselves.
According to their joint declaration, the ministers have ?highlightded the need for a common framework to accompany the continued process of reform in the sector of transport and the steer the future developments of Euromed transport cooperation?. The ministers examined the results of the work of the Euro-Mediterranean Transport Forum, which was tasked with identifying the broad outlines of the development of an integrated Euro-Mediterranean transport system for the coming years, and welcomed the outcome of this work, which has been consigned to a ?Blue Paper?. They also examine the conclusions reached by the high-level group set up to study the conditions for extending the trans-European transport networks to the neighbour countries. This group's report ?identifies, in parallel to the Blue Paper, a limited number of major trans-national transport axes and priority projects and supplies recommendations on the funding of the infrastructures and the cross-cutting priorities?. In this light, the ministers discussed the issue of financial resources (the new neighbourhood instrument which will eventually replace the MEDA, financial programme for the Mediterranean, and FEMIP, a financial instrument managed by the EIB).
The ministers also took note of the launch of several projects, notably the Euromed Transport Project, the Euromed GNSS Project (the satellite navigation programmes EGNOS and GALILEO) and the SAFEMED Project (maritime safety and security in the Mediterranean). Amongst other things, they welcomed progress in terms of opening up the aviation markets with certains Mediterranean partner countries and progress made in talks on regional cooperation in the field of maritime transport. They noted with satisfaction the implementation of a Joint Bureau for Transport between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, aiming to facilitate and stimulate cooperation between both sides for the planning and development of transport infrastructure. The ministers called on the Euro-Mediterranean Transport Forum to present a regional Action Plan on transport for the next five years, by the end of 2006, in order to implement the recommendations of the Blue Paper and the Final Report of the high-level group.