The 73rd EuroMed Senior Officials and Committee Meeting was held at the Council of the European Union in Brussels, on the 15th and 16th of January 2008. This meeting, which takes place four times under each rotating Presidency, was the first with the extended membership of 39 countries (EU + 12 Southern partners of the Mediterranean basin) since Albania and Mauritania were welcomed to the Barcelona Process at the annual 9th Euro-Mediterranean Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in November 2007 in Lisbon. This is also the first Presidency of a new Member state from the 2004 enlargement. The Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council rounds off the first trio of Presidencies (Germany, Portugal and Slovenia) and the implementation of the first 18-month programme.
The meeting was held in a very open and constructive atmosphere with relevant and interesting dialogue.
The Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council rounds off the first trio of Presidencies (Germany, Portugal and Slovenia) and the implementation of the first 18-month programme. The Slovenian Presidency assured that it will seek to ensure continuity with the remarkable work done in 2007 and insure the smooth transition and cooperation with the incoming French Presidency and the next trio (France, the Czech Republic and Sweden).
The common challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean region, which were emphasised in the Lisbon Conclusions, reflect the main priorities of the Slovenian Presidency. These priorities and the programme of activities in EuroMed for the first semester of 2008 were presented and discussed at the meeting. They will focus principally on: economic and social development; energy and climate change; civil protection; countering terrorism and extremism; the European Neighbourhood Policy and intercultural dialogue.
At the meeting it was stressed once again that the Barcelona Process continues to be a unique framework for an enhanced dialogue and cooperation in a wide range of fields of common interest for the Euro-Mediterranean partners, for building regional cooperation and mutual understanding.
Special emphasis was given to the preparation of the ministerial meetings in the first half of 2008. These include: information society, in Egypt in February; tourism, in Morocco in April and culture and intercultural dialogue, in Greece in May. Particular attention was drawn to the dialogue between cultures, with 2008 having been designated the Euro-Mediterranean year on dialogue between cultures and the EU Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
1 Albania, Algeria, Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.
