|
| | Issue 18 23 Nov 2007 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Council conclusions on annual report of EU's development policy and implementation of external aid Increasing EU response to situations of Fragility Greater mobility in higher education
European Parliament assesses European Neighbourhood PolicyEuro- Mediterranean Ministerial meeting on Migration Meeting of the Conference of Presidents on the Middle East Council conclusions on the Middle East Council expresses concern over Lebanese Presidential election European Commission to open aviation negotiations with Israel EU Statement on the developments in Georgia Ukraine: European Commission reacts to oil pollution in the Black Sea Northern dimension senior officials meeting | | | | | | | | Morocco signs contracts with the EU for 5 new Twinning projects 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Business Summit EuroMed Market holds Auditing and Accounting seminar Palestinians benefit from Bulgarian entrepreneurship training experience Water information systems seminar in Tunisia €6 million support for SMEs in Morocco Russia: development of social services for vulnerable groups Russia: New EU-funded Sludge Incineration Plant Ukraine: community approach to local development | | | | Council conclusions on annual report of EU's development policy and implementation of external aid At the General Affairs Council meeting on 18-19 November, the Council adopted conclusions on the annual report 2007 on the European community's development policy and the implementation of external aid in 2006. The Council stated that the annual report provided a good basis for donors and the general public to share the results of the community's aid. The Council concluded that there is a need to keep a strong poverty eradication focus in all developing countries. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/gena/97128.pdf Increasing EU response to situations of Fragility At the External Affairs Council, on 19-20 November 2007, ministers welcomed the Commission Communication "Towards an EU response to situations of Fragility - engaging in difficult environments for sustainable development, stability and peace". They endorsed, on behalf of the EU, the Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States and Situations. The Council recognised that the EU should make more effective use of the full range of existing EU policy tools and external action instruments to address, in a coherent and timely manner, situations of fragility in partner countries. The EU response should therefore combine political, diplomatic, development, security and humanitarian instruments. Greater mobility in higher education EU education ministers discussed further steps towards the strengthening and extension of mobility in higher education at the Council meeting in Brussels on 15-16 November. A Council approach was agreed on the adoption of the 2009-2013 Erasmus Mundus programme , which supports cooperation in higher education with third countries and should soon be extended both in time and scope. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/focusView.ASP?lang=en European Parliament assesses European Neighbourhood Policy The European Parliament adopted a report assessing the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The report recognises that some common threads such as visa facilitation and the encouragement of civil society and people-to-people contacts exist between the Eastern and the Southern Mediterranean Neighbourhood countries. But it advocates that "the unified implementation of the policy take as much account as possible of the differing identities of all the countries covered by the ENP". For both regions, the Parliament stressed that "conditionality can constitute an appropriate incentive for acceleration of reform processes in the ENP countries towards their convergence with the EU if conceived positively, and differentiated according to the country's specific needs and capacities." http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/030-13069-316-11-46-903-20071114IPR13068-12-11-2007-2007-false/default_en.htm | | | | | Euro- Mediterranean Ministerial meeting on Migration At the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Migration in Albufeira, Portugal on 18-19 November, ministers agreed to take a number of “appropriate and concrete measures” as a matter of priority concerning both legal and illegal migration. Ministers agreed on the need to address the root causes of migration, which they identified as “mainly poverty, unemployment, and the development gap”. They committed themselves to encouraging and promoting foreign direct investment in order to generate employment and reduce migration outflows, and helping to set up mechanisms and services and effective financial products to facilitate the transfer of migrants´ remittances. http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Noticias_Documentos/20071119Conclusoeseuromed.htm Meeting of the Conference of Presidents on the Middle East A special meeting of the Conference of Presidents on the Middle East was held on 20 November. Among others, the Commissioner for External Relations and ENP Benita Ferrero-Waldner attended the meeting which focused on the joint approach to be taken by the three European institutions- Parliament, Council and Commission- to the international Middle East conference to be held next week in Annapolis, USA. The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, explained: "By holding these talks between key representatives of the three institutions, we want to play our part in ensuring that the European Union speaks with one voice on the issue of the Middle East." http://www.europarl.europa.eu/president/defaulten.htm?agenda Council conclusions on the Middle East At the External Relations Council in Brussels on 19-20 November 2007, the Council reiterated its strong support for the upcoming international meeting at Annapolis and the efforts of Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. It looked forward to the achievement of concrete results leading to meaningful final status negotiations. The Council called for a continued broad and positive involvement by Arab partners, building on the Arab Peace Initiative. It also called for the mobilisation of significant international financial support at the December donors’ conference. Council expresses concern over Lebanese Presidential election The External Relations Council has expressed its growing concern that it has not yet been possible to elect a new President in Lebanon and that the parliamentary session has been postponed for the third time. It welcomed, however, "the spirit of dialogue" that has been observed recently. The Council strongly encouraged the Lebanese parties "to reach a solution through dialogue and in a spirit of consensus and in full respect of the Lebanese democratic institutions and constitutional norms". http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/gena/97169.pdf European Commission to open aviation negotiations with Israel The European Commission proposed to open negotiations with Israel on a comprehensive aviation agreement. As part of the process of creating a Common Aviation Area with its Eastern and Southern neighbours by 2010, the Commission's aim is to establish an open aviation area between the EU and Israel, to lift market restrictions and to achieve a high level of regulatory convergence. The agreement with Israel would establish an ambitious framework integrating wider aviation issues such as regulatory co-operation in the fields of aviation safety, security, air traffic management, technology, research and industrial cooperation. http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1732&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr | | | | | EU Statement on the developments in Georgia The EU issued a statement on the development in Georgia on 20 November to welcome the fact that the state of emergency was lifted on 16 November. But it urged Georgia to lift the restrictions on media too. Furthermore the EU encouraged Georgia to continue economic and political reforms and promised support in the framework of the ENP. http://www.delgeo.ec.europa.eu/en/press/20nov2007.html Ukraine: European Commission reacts to oil pollution in the Black Sea The European Commission has responded to a request for assistance from Ukraine through its Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), which is the office responsible for civil protection and marine pollution actions. Ukraine requires assistance in evaluating the environmental impact of the oil pollution in the Black Sea. The experts, made available to the MIC by Denmark, Latvia, Italy, France and Portugal will both assess environmental impacts and advise on immediate remediation needs. http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1715&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en Northern dimension senior officials meeting On 21 November, the first Senior Officials Meeting of the renewed "Northern Dimension policy" was held in Saint Petersburg. The participants of the meeting took stock of the existing partnerships (on Environment and in Public Health) which produce tangible results. The meeting discussed the possibility to expand cooperation to possible new areas such as transport and logistics, energy efficiency, culture and sub-regional cooperation. The Northern Dimension policy is a cooperation initiative gathering the EU, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation and different partners active in Northern Europe. www.ec.europa.eu/external_relations/north_dim/index.htm | | | | Morocco signs contracts with the EU for 5 new Twinning projects Morocco and the EU agreed on the implementation of five projects in the framework of the EU Twinning Programme. These projects will concern consumer protection, money laundering,competition autorities reinforcement, good governance and sanitary controls. Twinning programmes bring together public sector expertise from EU Member States and beneficiary countries for co-operative activities. The selected projects focus on different sectors such as agriculture, consumer protection, or competition. This takes part in the framework of the Association Agreement between the EU and Morocco. http://www.delmar.ec.europa.eu/fr/communiques/20071115.htm 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Business Summit The 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Business Summit took place on 21-22 November in Marseille, France. The theme of the conference was "the steady rise of Euro-Mediterranean Partnerships". Topics discussed at the summit included interaction between private and public sectors, the regulatory framework for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in the region, the financing of partnerships, investment experiences, the future of information, telecommunications and innovation in the region. The conference was organised by ANIMA Investment Network, a regional EU funded programme which gather over twenty investment promotion agencies (IPA) across the Mediterranean. http://www.animaweb.org/en/agenda-detail.php?agenda=16 EuroMed Market holds Auditing and Accounting seminar EuroMed Market, the EU-funded programme for the Promotion of the Instruments and Mechanisms of the Euro-Mediterranean Market, holds its final regional seminar on Auditing and Accounting in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership on 26-29 November in Athens, Greece. EuroMed Market is a €9 million regional programme which aims at facilitating the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area, as well as promoting deeper economic cooperation among the Mediterranean partner countries. http://www.euromedmarket.org/ingles/default.asp?pagina=home.asp Palestinians benefit from Bulgarian entrepreneurship training experience Palestinian training experts will benefit from the know-how of their counterparts in Bulgaria following an agreement reached at a meeting in Sofia on 5-6 November. The meeting was part of a series of best practice exchange being promoted by the EU-funded regional programme MEDA-ETE which promotes employability amongst young people in the Mediterranean partner countries. Next steps include the development of training materials in April 2008, followed by training in May and June. http://www.etf.europa.eu/web.nsf/opennews/E86C67DD63898C94C1257398004C7293_EN?OpenDocument Water information systems seminar in Tunisia On 22 November 2007, a seminar on the development of Water Information Systems was organised in Tunis. The seminar was an opportunity to discuss the support to the water sector in Tunisia and to present different experiences of water management systems. EMWIS (Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector) is an EU-funded regional programme focusing on the exchange of information and knowledge in the water sector among and within the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership. http://www.semide.tn/actualite/Tunis20071122_agenda_FR.htm €6 million support for SMEs in Morocco The European Investment Bank, through its Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP) committed €6 million to a new investment fund. The purpose of the fund is to make equity and quasi-equity investments in small and medium-sized enterprises established and operating in Morocco. The investment is part of FEMIP’s strategy to stimulating the private sector in the Mediterranean countries. Since 1995, FEMIP has invested around €2 billion in Morocco, of which a third has been in the transport sector and another third in energy projects. http://www.eib.org/projects/press/2007/maroc--la-femip-soutient-les-pme.htm | | | | | Russia: development of social services for vulnerable groups On 27 November 2007, a press conference on the closing of a substantial EU-funded project in support of vulnerable groups is organised in Moscow. The project contributed to the development of social services for the vulnerable groups of the population, including children and young people living with HIV/AIDS. The project also supported the fight against discrimination of HIV-positive people. In five selected pilot regions, a special health care and social protection system for socially vulnerable groups was created. The budget of the 27-month project totalled €3.4 million. http://www.delrus.ec.europa.eu/en/news_968.htm Russia: New EU-funded Sludge Incineration Plant On 25 November 2007, a new sludge incineration plant will be officially opened in Saint-Petersburg. The European Commission contributed €24.9 million to the construction of the plant, representing the largest and the most complex investment project ever financed under the TACIS programme. The plant will help to solve the important problem of the utilisation of sewage sludge in St. Petersburg, thereby guaranteeing the preservation of the green belt around the city. http://www.delrus.ec.europa.eu/en/news_967.htm Ukraine: community approach to local development On 4 December, a conference will be organized in Kiev to present to national and local partners, and international donors a project on community approach to local development. Launched in September 2007, the project aims at supporting communities in all oblasts of Ukraine in covering the most urgent developmental needs through self-organization, capacity building, and implementation of small-scale community initiatives. http://www.delukr.ec.europa.eu/cba_project_en/agenda.html | | | |
The European Commission will hold an information day on funding opportunities for media activities in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries. A call for tender was published by the European Commission (EuropeAid/125907/C/SER/Multi): http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/cgi/frame12.pl on 17November, relating to the production, broadcasting and distribution of new and/or existing television, radio, print media and internet-based media products for audiences in the ENPI. Project proposals should focus on communicating with, and informing audiences about the EU, its relations with and the impact of EU cooperation on, the ENPI beneficiary countries. An information day will be held on 29 November 2007 at the Info Point of EuropeAid Co-operation Office, 41 Rue de la Loi, 1040 Brussels at 2pm. ‘Role of Women in Economic Life’ newsletter is online The latest edition of the quarterly newsletter of the EuroMed ‘Role of Women in Economic Life’ programme is now available online. The EU-funded ‘Role of Women in Economic Life’ regional programme aims at facilitating and expanding opportunities for women’s economic participation. http://www.roleofwomenineconomiclife.net/Newsletters/july_Sep07/index.html#Euromed Forthcoming events 10-11 December 2007- Bled, Slovenia: Conference of the Water Directors of the Euro-Mediterranean and South Eastern European Countries (EMWDF) 7 December 2007 - Lisbon: EU - Africa summit
| | Funding opportunities Detailed information on open tenders in the ENPI partner countries can be found in the EuropeAid tender database here.
Detailed information on procedures is here. | | Call for Proposals: Cross Border Co-operation The European Commission has issued a Local Call for Proposals for the Neighbourhood Programme Moldova - Romania. The Global Objective of the Neighbourhood Programme is to achieve the sustainable socio-economic development on the border area between Romania and Moldova by developing the principle of cross-border co-operation. | | | The European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument - ENPI The European Union provides financial support to its eastern neighbours and those along the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean through the European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument launched in January 2007. This instrument, within the European Neighbourhood Policy, promotes enhanced cooperation and progressive economic integration between the EU and its partner countries and builds on common values. The countries covered by the ENPI are: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Russia, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine. | |
PRODUCED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
(EuropeAid Cooperation Office DG) This publication does not represent the official view of the European Commission or the EU Institutions.
The text of this publication is by no means binding for the Commission. Note on quotation: check against delivery | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
|
