Agreed Conclusions of the 9th Euro-Mediterranean Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Lisbon, 5-6 November 2007 (Horizon 2020 and a special ad hoc Euro-Mediterranean ministerial Conference on water)

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership met on 5 and 6 November 2007 in Lisbon, under the Presidency of H.E. Luis Amado, Foreign Minister of Portugal. This meeting offered an appropriate opportunity to assess the progress made during 2007 in implementing the Tampere programme which is derived from the 5-year Work Programme adopted in Barcelona in 2005, and to agree on the priorities for next year.

Ministers reaffirm their commitment to pursue their efforts to realise the Barcelona Declaration objectives. Ministers stress the importance of the European Neighbourhood Policy, which contributes to reinforcing and complementing the Barcelona Process through implementing bilateral Association Agreements and the Action Plans in accordance with agreed priorities. They remind that the political objectives of the Barcelona process are sustained by a substantial budget of more than € 3.3 billion for 2007-2010, which has been earmarked for Mediterranean regional and bilateral cooperation in the framework of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). They also take note of the establishment of a ENP Governance Facility to support willing Mediterranean partners in carrying out their reforms and welcome the progress towards establishing a substantial ENP Investment Facility. Ministers acknowledge the EU-Africa Joint Strategy and Plan of Action and look forward to the EU/Africa Summit in Lisbon in December 2007. Ministers welcome Albania and Mauritania into the Barcelona Process.

Ministers welcome that the Horizon 2020 initiative relating to the de-pollution of the Mediterranean will continue to implement the measures agreed under the timetable of actions approved at the third Euro-Mediterranean meeting of Environment Ministers held in Cairo and put forward by the first meeting of the Steering Committee in June 2007. The European Environment Agency will cooperate with its counterparts to design a coherent indicator process and a framework for regular indicator-based analyses, including a “scorecard” to compare and measure progress. The European Investment Bank has begun to identify the pollution reduction projects arising from the regional work of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) which appear to have the best possibility of being bankable. This is the first step to develop a project pipeline under Horizon 2020.

Ministers welcome the upcoming 4th Conference of Water Directors of the Euro-Mediterranean and South Eastern European Countries on 10-11 December 2007, which that will build on the conclusions of the third Conference, 6-7 November 2006, in Athens. Furthermore, Ministers take note of the possible organization of a special ad hoc Euro-Mediterranean ministerial Conference on water to take place in the second semester of 2008. The terms of reference for the Conference shall be agreed upon by all partners in due time.