Report from the 7th 'Union for the Mediterranean: Industry' ministerial conference
Group photo
© Sircom
- On: 06.11.2008
- In: Nice
During the meeting, held in the framework of the 'Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean', and in the presence of Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission, the ministers focused on three questions:
1) How to foster the best levels of competitiveness for the Union for the Mediterranean?
2) How to optimise industrial cooperation to promote the knowledge-based economy?
3) How to place sustainable industrial development at the heart of the industrial cooperation programme of the Union for the Mediterranean?
The ministers made specific commitments:
- the Invest in Med programme, launched last July with 12 million euros over three years to accompany the investment in the countries of the Union for the Mediterranean;
- the Med Connect programme: this programme to extend very high speed internet connections in the countries of the south will have a budget of 5 milllion euros over two years. It will facilitate high-speed internet access for 2 000 - 3 000 researchers and academics in around 15 universities and research centres;
- the creation of a Med Tech label: awarded by an independent agency, it will help the programmes with this label to find funding;
- On the sustainable industrial development front: request that the EIB submit proposals between now and June for funding for a solar energy development plan in the Euro-Mediterranean area.
The ministers also convened a meeting in Cairo in January 2009 with the main Arab, European and Mediterranean financial institutions to set up funding for the industrial projects, notably for the priority axes defined on 13 July last in Paris by the Heads of State and Government (motorways of the sea, depollution of the Mediterranean, Mediterranean solar plan, etc.).
In the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean, the first summit of which was held on 13 July 2008 in Paris, this conference brought together the Member States of the European Union and the Mediterranean partners (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Syria, the Palestine Territories, Tunisia, Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Monaco, Montenegro and Libya) belonging to the Union for the Mediterranean in the presence of Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission. Representatives from the private sector and Euro-Mediterranean professional federations also participated in the discussions.
This multilateral partnership aims to increase the potential for integration and regional cohesion.
- Updated: 30.12.2008
