EU-Mediterranean
Industrial cooperation under the Euro-Mediterranean partnership is helping to create an area of shared prosperity between the EU and Mediterranean partner countries.
Which countries?
16 Mediterranean partners: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.
Who does what?
EU and Mediterranean industry ministers meet every 2 years to take stock of progress, decide on future priorities and adopt a 2-year work programme.
On 11-12 May 2011, industry ministers met for the 8th time and adopted a work programme for 2011-2012. 
[232 KB] 
The meeting took place in Malta.
The European Commission was represented in this very successful meeting by Vice-President Tajani in charge of Industry and Entrepreneurship.
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Agenda [528 KB]
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List of participants [48 KB]
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Conclusions from 2011 ministerial meeting [50 KB]
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VP Tajani's speech [40 KB]
- Additional documents distributed in Malta
More photos from the meeting in Malta
The Working party on Euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation coordinates industrial cooperation and monitors implementation of the work programme.
It is composed of representatives from public authorities and business associations from EU and Mediterranean partner countries, international organisations and certain EU institutions.
Working party meetings
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On 14-15 November 2011, the Working Party on Euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation reviewed progress and planned the next steps in implementing the 2011-2012 work programme on Euro-Mediterranean Industrial Cooperation. |
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February 2011, Brussels |
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October 2010, Brussels |
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June 2010, Brussels |
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February 2010, Brussels |
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June 2009, Brussels |
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Activities
1. Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise
2008 – implementation report – Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise [2 MB] review of progress in the Mediterranean countries.
2009 – national implementation of the charter was discussed at various stakeholder meetings:
- May – Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (photos from the meetings)
- December – Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Syria
Documents & resources
- Good practice database
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Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise [35 KB]
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Online tools for implementing the charter
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Education for entrepreneurship [50 KB]
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Access to finance [147 KB]
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2009-2010 work programme [191 KB]
2. Promoting investment
Through workshops and meetings, the Mediterranean countries are informed about policies and measures designed to increase flows of foreign and local investment. In 2009-10, work concentrated on:
- the regional "Invest in Med" programme
- FEMIP, the EIB's financial facility for the Mediterranean area
- the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF).
Documents
Entrepreneurs' Success Stories in the Mediterranean [3 MB] – testimonies from European companies that have successfully invested in the region.
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3. Trade facilitation for industrial products
Mediterranean countries have continued adapting their legislation, standards and institutions to the EU acquis in some priority industrial sectors with a view to concluding agreements on conformity assessment and acceptance of industrial products (ACAAs) with the EU.
A TAIEX seminar on new single market legislation was held for partner countries in April 2010.
4. Innovation and technology transfer
Work here involves:
- regional networking and linking the Mediterranean countries to the Enterprise Europe Network
- exchanging good practice on how to promote innovation, as at the Forum on innovation, Cairo, January 2010
5. Future of the textile and clothing sector
Conferences were organised to discuss common solutions to challenges from international competition:
- workshop on employer/trade union capacity building – Brussels, November 2009
- conference on technical textiles and innovation – textile sector stakeholders, public authorities responsible for R&D, research centres, innovation incubators, etc.
- More on Euro-Mediterranean textiles dialogue
6. Sustainable industrial development and energy efficiency
The 2012 Survey on Sustainable Enterprise Development in nine Mediterranean partner countries [4 MB] (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Tunisia) identifies, describes and analyses, policy measures and good practice in Mediterranean partner countries with respect to sustainable enterprise development. It provides a complete picture of the state of progress in each country and in the region as a whole, in line with the European Union’s Small Business Act for Europe (the SBA), particularly Principle Nine: “enabling SMEs to turn environmental challenges into opportunities.” The main findings are summed up here [864 KB] .
In November 2009, a seminar was held in Brussels on developing sustainable businesses. Experts from the EU and Mediterranean countries shared information on policies, programmes and good practice. With the European Commission and the OECD, they developed proposals to "green" the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise , bringing it more in line with the European Small Business Act.
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Conferences & presentations
- On 16-17 April 2012, Euro-Mediterranean representatives of business associations and public bodies
[41 KB] exchanged knowledge and good practice in jointly defining policies for SMEs. The workshop was organised by Enterprise and Industry DG and the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise . It was hosted by the Secretariat of the UfM in Barcelona and supported by the TAIEX Instrument. The main conclusions are summed up here [24 KB] . - The textile and clothing sectors from each side of the Mediterranean had their annual meeting on the future of their industries in Milan – renowned fashion city – in mid March 2012. They discussed "Challenges and opportunities for the textiles and clothing sector in the Euro-Mediterranean Region". The event was organised with the support of the TAIEX instrument.
- On Thursday 8 March 2012, European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani called for strengthening [26 KB] Euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation at the 10th FEMIP (the EIB's Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership) conference in Tunis. A Memorandum of Understanding [340 KB] was signed in his presence, prompting cooperation between EU and Tunisian cluster-related institutions [18 KB] to share information, tools and experience in cluster management and innovation management. A preparatory workshop (Agenda [38 KB] ) was held on 7 March 2012. Presentations.
- On 2.12.2011, Antonios Fysekidis from Enterprise and Industry DG presented, in Casablanca, Morocco, the role and the achievements of Enterprise Europe Network and drew the attention of the representatives from Mediterranean neighborhood countries to the numerous business cooperation, technology & knowledge transfer and innovation opportunities that the Network offers for SMEs. The presentation
[201 KB] was held during the conference of the Mediterranean Innovation and Research Action -MIRA supported by the 7th Framework Programme on Research and Technological Development.
- From 13 to 15 December 2011, Euro-Mediterranean experts, policy-makers and managers of financial instruments [17 KB] exchanged knowledge and good practice to help SMEs access finance. The workshop was organised by Enterprise and Industry DG within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise. It was hosted by the Milan Chamber of Commerce and supported by the EU TAIEX instrument.
- On 30 November and 1 December 2011, Euro-Mediterranean experts, officials and business representatives shared their knowledge and experience with respect to administrative simplification. The workshop was organised by Enterprise and Industry DG with the support of the SIGMA instrument, within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise. See the report [12 MB] .
- From 24 to 26 October 2011, experts in innovation from 18 Euro-Mediterranean countries [274 KB] shared their knowledge and experience with respect to innovation strategies and governance models, public-private partnerships, clusters, technology parks and innovation funding instruments. The workshop was organised by Enterprise and Industry DG within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise. It was hosted by the Milan Chamber of Commerce and supported by the EU TAIEX instrument. A report of the meeting [553 KB] is available.
- Alexandria, Egypt, 21-22 September 2011- The MedAlliance network of 400 business support organisations from Europe and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries announced at their annual Euromed Invest Summit an ambitious action plan to strengthen small business development in the Euro-Med region. See presentation [3 MB] .
- A Symposium on how to prepare and train school teachers for entrepreneurship education was held in Istanbul on 13-15 July 2011. The Symposium brought together policy makers and practitioners of 17 EU partner countries from the pre-accession and Mediterranean Neighbourhood regions. The Symposium involved a series of focus groups preceded by good practice sharing, resulting in a set of concrete ideas and action plans [923 KB] for stepping up activities in this area.
- With a view to exploring ways for involivng local players more closely in Euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation, Ms Marie Corman represented DG Enterprise and Industry [626 KB] at a meeting organised by the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) - Commission for Economic, Social and Territorial Affairs (ECOTER), in Porec, Croatia, on 8 July 2011.
- 15 June 2011 - The User group for the Euro-Mediterranean standardization of Digital professions [135 KB] met in Cairo. Hosted by the Egyptian Organization for Standards and Quality (EOS) and chaired by Dr Hany Barakat, a group of public and private stakeholders from Mediterranean partner countries was presented the work and preliminary findings of a Euro-Mediterranean standardization Project team. Stakeholders represented industry, academy, vocational training and international organisations/cooperation projects.
The Project team - comprised of Experts from the North and South of the Mediterranean - is funded by the European Commission to assess the feasibility and benefits of a Euro-Mediterranean repository of digital professions within the framework of CEN's (European committee for standardization) work on ICT Skills. Exchanges during the meeting outlined the strong interest of Mediterranean stakeholders for the standardization of professions in ICT, which will facilitate business cooperation in the field of ICT in the whole Euro-Mediterranean area. The next User group meeting will be held on 5th October 2011 in Brussels. The project is part of the Euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation process and will deliver its phase 1 results in December 2011.
List of participants [16 KB]
- 6 June 2011, Barcelona - In order to strenghten cooperation to promote SMEs in the Mediterranean, Marie Corman (DG Enterprise and Industry) attended the meeting organised by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfMS).
- 31 May 2011 - « L’entreprise euro-méditerranéenne : face au double défi, de l’innovation et du déploiement dans les régions. Le cas tunisien » [440 KB]
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Speech of Abdelaziz Rassaa [28 KB]
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Speech of Mercedes Bresso [21 KB]
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Speech of Luc Van den Brande [71 KB]
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Speech of Abdelaziz Rassaa
- Delegates from Algeria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palesinian Authority and Tunisia participated in the conference "Mobilising SMEs for the Future of Europe" in Budapest on 24-25 May 2011.
- September 2010, Brussels – high-level meeting of CEPS-IEMED working group [205 KB] on:
- Financing for small businesses (MSMEs) [63 KB] in the Mediterranean
- Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise [492 KB] – presentation by Marie Corman (European Commission)
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- June 2010, Barcelona – Conference organised by young European entrepreneurs (Spanish only)
- March 2010, Tunis – Beyond the crisis – supporting young enterprise – Meeting of the MENA-OECD Working group on small business policy, entrepreneurship and human capital development,
- Ongoing and planned activities to implement the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise [706 KB] – presentation by Marie Corman (European Commission)
- February 2010, Damascus – Euro–Arab conference to support small businesses – first conference of its kind, organised by the Syrian Enterprise Business Centre (SEBC)
- EU small business policy – success factors & good practices [145 KB] – presentation by Emmanuel Berck (European Commission)
- February 2010, Brussels – Mediterranean Innovation and Research Coordination Action (MIRA) event
- Perspectives for Mediterranean-European innovation [3 MB] – presentation by Sven Schade (European Commission)
- December 2009, Cairo – Regional seminar on small business and innovation – discussion of policies, programmes and good practice with experts from Mediterranean countries and the Western Balkans.
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- October, 2009, Stockholm – From the European Charter for Small Enterprises to the Small Business Act, attended by representatives from all 9 Mediterranean partner countries. The Med workshop featured presentations on:
- benchmarking [614 KB] by John Farnell (European Commission)
- spin-offs from the charter process [413 KB] by Latifa Echihabi (ANPME, Morocco).
- With the help of the European Training Foundation, entrepreneurship education and female entrepreneurship have become prominent on the agenda of Euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation, as demonstrated by recent events in Zagreb, Cairo and Istanbul.
