CETMO
March 2012
7th Conference of Transport Ministers of the Western Mediterranean
The 7th Conference of the Group of Transport Ministers of the Western Mediterranean was held in Algiers on 13 March 2012. Since the Group of Transport Ministers of the Western Mediterranean (GTMO 5+5) was created in 1995, its main mission has been to encourage cooperation in the transport sector in the region and to contribute actively to strengthening the Euro-Mediterranean Association.
The Transport Ministers of Algeria, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia participated in the conference, as well as senior civil servants from France, Malta and Mauritania. Also present as observers were the Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union, the Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean and a representative of the European Commission. As in previous occasions, CETMO participated by performing its functions as the Group’s Technical Secretariat, which it does thanks to financing from the Spanish Ministry of Fomento and the Catalan government.
There were two main objectives of this 7th Conference: the first involved transferring the presidency from Italy to Algeria for the next two years, and the second involved the reiteration by the ministers of their interest in the GTMO 5+5 by ratifying the Activity Report of the outgoing presidency and signing the conclusions that will bind the Group of Ministers over the next two years.
The Italian Activity Report emphasized the work done to intensify Euro-Mediterranean cooperation through the stimulation of existing relations and the search for new ways to cooperate. In this regard, the Union for the Mediterranean’s labelling of the project Completion of the Central Section of the Trans-Maghreb Motorway Axis reflects the good institutional relations between the GTMO 5+5 and the different institutions for cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Moreover, Italy insisted on the high level of execution of tasks in different priority areas of the 2009-2011 work programme. Numerous studies and activities in the work areas were carried out during the year, with pride of place taken by the updating of databases, the creation of a geographic information system for the GTMO 5+5 multimodal network, and studies on infrastructure financing, transport facilitation and the logistics sector.
Algeria, the new president, indicated its intention to use its term to continue with the cooperation work done by the GTMO 5+5. The following points stand out among the tasks listed in the Conference conclusions:
- Promotion of priority projects: development of the motorway project with the UfM label and presentation of new GTMO 5+5 projects for labelling and subsequent promotion by the UfM: the rail axis, the VTS network and the section completing the trans-Maghreb motorway.
- Launch of anticipated coordination activities for management of the rail and trans-Maghreb motorway axes.
- Definition of the core network of transport infrastructure of the GTMO 5+5.
- Development of the trans-Mediterranean transport network through a programme that includes financing similar to the one for the trans-European transport network.
- Analysis of the proposed Maritime Navigation Safety Fee based on the results of the study in progress on the matter.
- Launch of activities to promote logistics development, increase the participation of private logistics sector companies and upgrade the Maghreb companies in this sector, in particular through collaboration with the EIB Logismed project.
- Continuing the collaboration with the Euro-Mediterranean Transport Forum through its activities and working groups.
To consult the complete text of the Conclusions of the 7th GTMO 5+5 Conference (in French), press here.
