Brussels, 19/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - A conference on higher education and scientific research was held on 18 June in Cairo attended by ministers of the Euromed area. At the conference, which was held after a decision taken at the last Euromed ministerial meeting in Tampere in November 2006, a declaration was adopted which set out the road for cooperation in this field, considered essential for the future of countries on both sides of the Mediterranean. At the end of this first gathering, it was decided that the issue of education and RTDI did not receive the sufficient attention it merits in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The declaration adopted points out the stakes of such cooperation and the various instruments available (Erasmus, Tempus, etc.). As part of the five-year programme fixed for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation at the 10th anniversary “summit” in Barcelona, the participants of the Cairo meeting agreed that their priorities were to cover higher education for the creation of a Euromed Higher Education Area, as well as the promotion of research and innovation and support to exchanges between universities, mainly on the basis of the information society. Cooperation envisaged covers a broad range of areas affecting all levels of education, training and research activity. (fb)