Brussels, 19/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - The 5+5 group of Western Mediterranean transport ministers attended a conference in Tunis, Tunisia, on Monday 17 November 2008, where EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani called for the establishment of a Mediterranean transport network (see EUROPE 9759), to be officially presented at the EuroMed Transport Forum in Brussels on December 2008. The establishment of this new network could form part of the 2007-2013 regional action plan that set out a series of measures on infrastructure and the harmonisation of legislation. Tajani is quoted by Associated Press, describing the project as an important project for the future, extending the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), encouraging the development and stability of Africa, and stemming emigration to Europe.
The 5+5 group meeting examined progress and the funding of transport programmes in the Western Mediterranean region, such as the updating and interoperability of the North African railway connection between Tunis, Alger and Casablanca, and a feasibility study on a high speed North African railway line between Tripoli in Libya to Casablanca in Morocco via Tunis and Alger in Algeria. In his opening speech, the commissioner said that the ministers expected the European Commission to help them organise and implement the arranging of funding for their projects and the Commission would respond. He added, however, that the necessary measures would be facilitated if the quality of infrastructure projects is already recognised and assuming the plan is to establish a transport network across the Mediterranean. He stressed the need to draw up a list of priority infrastructure projects. AP says a European Commission delegation will travel to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia next week to identify priority projects with the African Union. The commissioner says the list should be used as reference for frameworks promoting and funding specific projects, such as the Union for the Mediterranean, and regional projects run by the EU and public and private international financial institutions (the EIB, the EU's neighbourhood policy and public and private partnerships). Tunisia presented its application at the conference to form part of a highway of the sea from Rades in Tunisia to Marseilles in France, and from Rades to Genoa in Italy. The 5+5 group comprises five countries on the southern rim of the Mediterranean (France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta) and five countries in North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia). (A.By./transl.fl)