On the road to the UfM Ministerial Conference on Transport: Meeting of the UfM Regional Platform on Transport Connectivity and its Thematic Working Groups
Barcelona, 30 March 2022 – The UfM Regional Platform on Transport Connectivity and its Thematic Working Groups on Land Transport, Air Transport, Maritime Transport and Logistics convened from 28 to 30 March 2022 online, to resume the preparations at the technical level for the 3rd UfM Ministerial Conference on Transport. As announced by the UfM Co-Presidency and the Egyptian representative on this occasion, it will be held in Cairo in early October 2022.
In particular, the Working Groups discussed the consolidated version of the Regional Transport Action Plan for the Mediterranean region (RTAP) for the period 2021-2027, with a view to finalising it at the technical level.
The Working Group meetings were co-chaired by the UfM Co-Presidency, represented by Stefano Paci, Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), European Commission and by Qais Gogazeh, Director of Transport Planning and Studies, Ministry of Transport of Jordan. Erdal Sabri Ergen, Deputy Secretary General for Transport and Urban Development and Francesc Carbonell, Head of Sector for Transport hosted the meetings on behalf of the UfM Secretariat.
The meetings brought together national transport coordinators and focal points for land, air and maritime transport and logistics from the Ministries of Transport of UfM Member States, representatives of several Directorates-General of the European Commission (DG MOVE, DG NEAR, and DG MARE), EU Transport Agencies (EASA, EMSA and ERA) and of the European Transport Support project (ETSP), as well as delegates from key regional and international partner organizations, such as OTIF and CETMO.
During his opening remarks, UfM Deputy Secretary General Ergen commended the UfM Co-presidency and UfM Members for their substantive contributions to the RTAP 2021-2027 and for ensuring this drafting exercise was a co-owned effort. He recalled that “this new RTAP will guide UfM Member States’ individual and collaborative work in the transport sector in the years to come, towards the goal of a sustainable, smart, resilient, cleaner and more inclusive mobility, in line with the vision for trans-Mediterranean integration in the infrastructure sector”.
UfM Member States reiterated their support for the work of the UfM Regional Platform and its thematic Working Groups. They provided comprehensive comments on the proposed actions (horizontal and thematic subsectors) included in the new RTAP, while expressing an overall support for the current version. The UfM Co-presidency thanked all the participants for their valuable proposals and looks forward to the finalisation of new action plan.
The meetings provided a valuable opportunity to also explore the possibility of launching a reflection on the implementation stage of RTAP 2021-2027 alongside the preparations for the upcoming Ministerial Conference. This would address the possibility of further involving International Financial Institutions and donors to share information about funding programmes in relation to the different actions of RTAP 2021-2027 and their financing needs.
In their concluding joint session, the Working Groups discussed the next steps in the run-up to the next UfM Ministerial Conference on Transport in regard to the three foreseen deliverables: the RTAP 2021-2027, the Evaluation Report of the previous RTAP (2014-2020) and the Ministerial Declaration itself.
