Common problems, shared solutions: development of the transport network in South-East Europe

The third annual ministerial meeting for the development of the South-East Europe core regional transport network has taken place in Tirana, attended by the European Commission, the Transport Ministers or Deputy Ministers of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo (UNMIK), Slovenia as the future Presidency of the EU and the International Financing Institutions (World Bank, EIB and EBRD). The purpose of today’s meeting was to promote regional cooperation in developing the transport networks and thereby to contribute to the regional integration of the partners. The high-level participants signed a political resolution as well as an addendum to the existing agreement for the creation of a South East Europe Rail Transport Area.

At the opening, Sali Berisha, Prime Minister of Albania, emphasised that modern economies cannot generate wealth and employment without highly efficient transport system. At the meeting Zoltan Kazatsay, Deputy Director General for Transport, stressed the importance of closer cooperation, declaring that "the development of an adequate and reliable transport network is a precondition for any region’s economic progress and social integration. Furthermore, by supporting the deployment of the core transport network in South-East Europe, we will also benefit from the extension of the European market and from the more harmonious development of our entire continent".

This regional cooperation will have the effect not only of promoting the technical development of the transport networks but also of facilitating border crossings. It will cover the rail networks, the road sector, inland waterway transport, and ports and airports – in short, everything that makes up the principal regional transport network.

The resolution signed today reinforces the political commitment of the participants at regional level. It seeks to develop sustainable transport infrastructures, while at the same time focusing on various operational and regulatory matters of regional importance that will help to bring the signatories closer into line with the Community acquis. The signature of an Addendum concerning the development of the South East Europe Rail Transport Area is an important step forward for the revival of this sector. The Addendum will concentrate, more particularly, on improving rail market access, on opening the national market, on facilitating border crossings and on ensuring a high level of technical interoperability between the partners.

The programme of cooperation with the South East Europe region dates back to the beginning of 2000. The principal network was defined in a regional study conducted in 2003 and was officially designated as such in 2004 in Luxembourg, where the signatories of a provisional Memorandum of Understanding agreed to engage in regional cooperation. This agreement provided for the Transport Ministers concerned to meet annually, with the first such meeting taking place on 10 November 2005 in Skopje and the second in Brussels on 1 December 2006.