EU wil transport van en naar Oostelijke buurlanden verbeteren (en)
Transport ministers of the EU and Eastern Partnership countries will meet on 9 October in Luxembourg before the Transport Council (TTE) to discuss cooperation in transport and logistics, with special emphasis on the improvement of transport connections between the EU and its closest neighbors.
“Two years ago, the EU Transport ministers set a task to enhance the connection between the transport systems of the European Union and its neighboring countries. It should be done by developing the regional transport infrastructure network and approximating the regulatory legislation in all transport areas between the EU and its Eastern partnership countries. Today, as a minister of the country with an external EU border, I would like to highlight the development made by the Eastern Partnership member countries in the context of transport infrastructure,” says the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania Rimantas Sinkevičius.
It is expected that at the Eastern Partnership Transport Ministerial Meeting scheduled to take place in Luxembourg on the 9th of October, 28 EU Ministers and 6 Ministers from Eastern neighboring countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) will adopt a Joint Declaration and confirm, at the political level, results achieved in the transport market integration.
Ministers responsible for transport are also set to assess the progress made in the approximation of the regulatory legislation and agree on the regional transport infrastructure network which includes not only the six EU Eastern partnership countries’ infrastructure, but also their connections with the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The Ministerial Declaration, on Lithuanian account, sets a recommendation for the European Commission to include the regional Eastern partnership transport network into the guidelines of the TEN-T regulations, hence, identifying this network as a TEN-T extension to the EU Eastern partnership countries.
The Eastern Partnership Transport Ministerial Meeting is also set to adopt the infrastructure priority list of the six partner countries projects. These projects could be implemented through the EU funding and loans provided by international financial institutions.
Press conference is due to be held after the Eastern Partnership Transport Ministerial Meeting at 5.30 pm. Vice-President of the European Commission Siim Kallas and Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania Rimantas Sinkevičius will also be present.