Lisbon, 06/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The UMA (Union du Maghreb Arabe - Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania) is calling on the European Commission to support the planned relaunch of North African integration. At a press conference on the fringes of the EuroMed Summit in Lisbon, the president in exercise of the UMA, Libyan foreign minister Abderrahman Chalgham; UMA Secretary General Abib Ben Yahia; president in exercise of the EU, Portuguese foreign minister Luis Amado; EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana; and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner highlighted the utility of such cooperation at a time when the UMA is trying to breathe new life into the sub-regional integration project. Chalgham said it had not been possible to put the long-planned cooperation into practice because of the paralysis that had afflicted the UMA, which had fallen victim to the disputes between the two main players, Morocco and Algeria. Amado said that Europeans deplored the low level of trade among North African countries, which only accounts for 3% of North African trade. The president in exercise of the UMA said that two thirds of that 3% came from trade between Tunisia and Libya. At a press conference, it was explained that working groups would be set up to decide on the thrust of the North African integration project. EU sources explain that the UMA requested the offer of aid, and the UMA secretary general wrote a letter to the European Commission more than a month ago in which he made the request. The Commission sees itself as a catalyst of North African integration and is prepared to support projects following the logic of and aiming to build on the Barcelona Process, explains EU sources. Asked for their views on the idea of a Mediterranean Union, the five speakers said it might be useful to study the value-added of such an approach. Libya's foreign minister said that the UMA would be holding a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on 30 November to study the idea. (F.B.)