7th SEETO Annual Meeting of Ministers
The South East European Transport Observatory (SEETO) in
cooperation with the European Commission hosted the 7th
Annual Meeting of Ministers for development of the SEETO
Comprehensive Network on 29 November 2011, in the framework of the
TEN-T days in Antwerp, Belgium.
The Meeting was attended by high level delegations from the
Transport and Infrastructure Ministries of Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99), as well as the
European Commission, various transport related institutions and the
International Financial Institutions.
The Vice President of the European Commission responsible for
Transport, Mr. Siim Kallas opened the Annual Ministerial Meeting,
welcoming the inclusion of the SEETO Comprehensive Network in the
revised EC Guidelines for the Trans-European Transport Networks
(TEN-T), and expressing continuous EC's support for SEETO priority
projects through IPA and WBIF grants. In presenting his views on
the regional transport cooperation, he acknowledged "the strong
value of transport, which does not end at the borders", thus he
called upon the Regional Participants to remove the non-physical
barriers. He reiterated the strategic importance of the cooperation
between EC and SEETO Participants, saying that "we can make a real
difference by working together and building upon the previous
achievements".
Mr. Jean Eric Paquet, Director in DG MOVE, introduced the
novelties of the Commission's proposal for the TEN-T guidelines and
welcomed the new Connecting Europe Facility which in his words, for
the first time has an external dimension and took into account the
links between the TEN-T and SEETO Comprehensive Network.
During the plenary session, the Ministers presented the progress
made in the development of the SEETO Comprehensive Network and
committed to undertake long term measures to secure financing for
the SEETO Priority Project list as well as further reforms in the
transport system in line with the EU Transport and TEN-T
policy.
The SEETO Steering Committee Chairperson, Ms. Angelina Zivkovic,
highlighted the following main accomplishments of the SEETO
institutional cooperation in 2011: inclusion of the SEETO
Comprehensive Network into the TEN-T Comprehensive Network maps and
definition of the interlinks; SEETO Transport Investment Conference
TRINCON 2011 held in Sarajevo which united the participants around
several major priorities with cross-border dimension; and the
publication of the 2012 SEETO Multi Annual Development Plan, as
well as the organisation of the 7th Annual Meeting of
Ministers with high support of the European Commission.
In the concluding remarks, Mrs. Marjeta Jager, Director in DG
MOVE voiced a message for planning the best combination of
transport modes and completion of the Corridors, using the
available investments coordination mechanisms, as well as for
abolishing barriers for free movement of goods in the region.
On the occasion of the 7th SEETO Annual Meeting of
Ministers, the 2012 Multi Annual Development Plan was delivered. It
presents a regional transport planning document, agreed jointly by
all SEETO participants that gives an overview of the development of
the SEETO Comprehensive Network, compiles the main regional
priority projects and streamlines further reforms in the transport
sector. In the Plan, the reported investments in the SEETO
Comprehensive Network from 2005 to 2010 are €5.698 billion, while
the total investment needs for the overall 35 programmes from the
2012 Priority Project List amounts to € 8,403 billion, to be
carried out in the next midterm rolling period.
In the adopted Conclusions by the 7th SEETO AMM, the
Ministers committed to further develop the SEETO Comprehensive
Network, welcomed the efforts of the European Commission to provide
assistance in implementing horizontal and policy measures, and
supported the preparation of a comprehensive transport study for
the Western Balkans. They undertook political commitment to take on
further steps for development of environmentally friendly modes of
transport and encouraged transport co-modality, as well.