14th Information & Training Seminar for Diplomats

25th - 28th April 2003

Press Release - 23rd April 2003

The Fourteenth Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training Seminar is taking place in Malta April 25th – 28th 2003. The four days of deliberations are focusing on recent developments in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Process, particularly the follow up to the Euro-Mediterranean foreign ministerial meeting held in Valencia in April 2002 and the impact that EU enlargement is having on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.

This international gathering is bringing together diplomats from the majority of European Union member states and the Mediterranean Partner countries that signed up to the Barcelona Declaration of November 1995 and for the first time the newly admitted countries into the EU from Eastern Europe have also been invited. The conference is organized by the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies of the University of Malta which has been entrusted by the European Commission to co-ordinate this confidence building initiative.

In the last seven years the Euro-Mediterranean Process has provided the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies a welcome normative framework for expanding its training activities in the Euro-Mediterranean regional setting. The objectives of the Information and Training Seminar are to enhance the understanding of diplomats from the European Union and the Mediterranean partner states about the various aspects and the functioning of the European Union with special reference to the Barcelona Process and issues pertaining to the Mediterranean.

Throughout the four-day conference academic specialists and other professionals from both Europe and the Mediterranean will present a series of lectures on developments within each of the three chapters of the Euro-Mediterranean Process, namely the political and security, economic and financial, and the cultural and human resources chapters. Particular attention will be dedicated to topics that include The EU’s Neighbourhood Policy, the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements, and the MEDA Information programme. The seminar will also examine developments that have taken place during the Greek EU Presidency.

The underlying objective of this information and training seminar is to improve the flow of information, exchange of perspectives and the promotion of dialogue between the various cultures and civilizations in the Mediterranean area. Furthermore, the meeting also serves as a valuable networking function, as officials attending the programme are all directly involved in the current implementation stage of the Barcelona process. The gathering thus offers those present with an opportunity to assess the state of the Euro-Mediterranean Process six and a half years after its launching. Participants will also be able to deliberate upon viable plans of action that will lead to the sustainable and balanced development of the Euro-Mediterranean area. More information on the seminars can be found at www.euromed-seminars.org.mt