Reinforcing cooperation in the Mediterranean: Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Ministerial Conference on Transport takes place in Brussels
Brussels, 14 November 2013. The UfM Ministerial Conference on Transport aimed at evaluating the progress made from the first Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference, which took place in Marrakech, in December 2005. On that occasion, the Ministers called for the reinforcement of cooperation within the Mediterranean region in the field of transport. In order to achieve this, a five-year Regional Transport Action Plan (RTAP) for the period 2007-2013 was adopted. In this context, an evaluation report for the RTAP 2007-2013 as well as the priority guidelines for the RTAP 2014-2020 were presented during the Conference. These guidelines will contribute to the definition of the multimodal Trans-Mediterranean Transport Network, a strategic action in which the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean will play an important role.
In the framework of the conference, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean and the Group of Transports Ministers of the Western Mediterranean countries (GTMO 5+5) with the aim to achieve their common objectives in the field of transport through the identification of synergies and definition of concrete ways of collaboration.
Since 2010, the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean has been intensively working in the transport field and has labelled the following projects of significant impact:
- Completion of the central section of the trans-Maghreb motorway axis (a 22 km segment along the Algerian-Moroccan border, and an 80 km segment along the border between Algeria and Tunisia).
- LOGISMED-TA, covering training activities on the development of a network of a Euro-Mediterranean logistics platforms. The project was launched in June, 2013.
- Extension of the Jordanian national railway network (the main component of the project will be the “North-South Corridor” from the Syrian border to the port of Aqaba).
The Secretariat of the UfM has actively participated in the preparatory work of the Conference since November 2012 together with the UfM co-presidencies, the European institutions (European External Action Service -EEAS- and European Commission -Directorates-General Mobility and Transport, DG MOVE, as well as EuropeAid Development and Cooperaton, DG DEVCO) – and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and contributed to the drafting of the Conference documents. The Secretariat will continue to promote projects and provide further technical support to the UfM member countries in the field of transport.
The next Union for the Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Transport is envisaged to be held in 2016, as stated in the Ministerial Declaration.
More information
- Speech by the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean on the occasion of the UfM Ministerial Conference on Transport
- Ministerial Declaration EN
- Ministerial Declaration FR
- Ministerial Declaration AR
- Priority guidelines for the Regional Transport Action Plan (RTAP) for the period 2014-2020 EN
- Priority guidelines for the Regional Transport Action Plan (RTAP) for the period 2014-2020 FR
- Priority guidelines for the Regional Transport Action Plan (RTAP) for the period 2014-2020 AR
UfM Transport projects
Current UfM-labelled projects on Transport
Audiovisual gallery UfM Ministerial Conference on Transport
