The seventh "Euromed Trade" ministerial conference

• from: 02.07.2008
• to: 02.07.2008
• In: Marseilles

First ministerial meeting of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Euromed Trade conference brings together 27 EU ministers and 13 Mediterranean partners.

The seventh "Euromed Trade" ministerial conference will bring together the ministers for trade from the 27 countries of the European Union and from 13 Mediterranean partners (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Israle, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Syria, Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Turkey with Libya as an observer) on 2 July in Marseilles.

Co-chaired by France, represented by Anne-Marie Idrac, Minister of State to Christine Lagarde, Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment, with responsibility for Foreign Trade, and by the European Commission, represented by Peter Mandelson, European Commissioner for Trade, this first ministerial meeting of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union comes ahead of the Paris Summit for the Mediterranean, which will bring together Heads of State and Government on 13 July next.

In Marseilles the ministers will take stock of the economic integration in the area and review the progress of ongoing trade negotiations. Negotiations concerning free industrial trade between the EU and the Mediterranean partners are, for the most part, complete and are in the process of being implemented. The current trade discussions are focused on four new aspects: enhancing the liberalisation of agricultural trade, the service sector and the right of establishment, the mechanism for settling trade-related disputes, and regional integration through the liberalisation of "South-South" trade. The ministers will also have an initial debate on the studies carried out by the Commission with regard to preparing a roadmap for the future of the Mediterranean economic integration project up to 2010 and beyond.

On France's initiative and for the first time in such a conference, a session will be opened to five major players from the Euro-Mediterranean business world, who will share their experiences, their vision for the future of the Mediterranean and their expectations with the ministers. This willingness to include the private sector in the Euromed process may also be seen in the involvement of the Marseilles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is hosting the conference at its headquarters, the Palais de la Bourse.

Launched in 1995, the economic aim of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership is to set up a regional free-trade area with the Southern countries by 2010.

The ministerial conference will be followed by the "Med Business Days" meeting organised by Business Europe in association with MEDEF (French business federation) and the Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprise (UMCE), on 3 and 4 July in Marseilles, on the subject of enterprise as the driving force of the Mediterranean.

The discussions and conclusions of this conference will help to prepare the work of the Heads of State and Government invited by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, to the Paris Summit for the Mediterranean on 13 July in Paris.

• Updated: 17.12.2008

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