Speech of Special Coordinator Erhard Busek at the Ministerial Meeting, Rome

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to address this Ministerial Meeting of the Stability Pact’s Trade Working Group. I would like to thank the Italian Government, in its capacity as the current EU Presidency for hosting this important meeting.

Through your generosity, the countries of South Eastern Europe have an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to the Thessaloniki Agenda endorsed by the EU Member States, the Candidate Countries and the Western Balkans in June 2003. The Agenda highlighted the importance of trade liberalisation for the integration with the EU and commended the efforts underway under the auspices of the SP Trade Working Group. The presence of ministers from all the countries as well as the senior level participation from the international community testifies to the importance you all place on this process.

I am very pleased to be able to share this platform with Commissioner Lamy. DG Trade has been one of the strongest supporters of this initiative since the outset and your presence here today clearly demonstrates the emphasis placed by the European Commission on furthering trade liberalisation in South Eastern Europe.

It is also a pleasure to see Minister Doko representing the SEECP presidency - the voice of the region so to say - which is currently held by Bosnia and Herzegovina. SEECP has maintained trade liberalisation as one of its priorities.

The Stability Pact has always viewed trade liberalisation as a vital component of improving the business climate and ensuring sustainable economic development in South Eastern Europe.

The SP’s Trade Working Group is a unique forum bringing together senior trade policy official from the SEE countries, specialised multilateral organisation and bilateral governments. The SEE countries have been highly supportive of this process since the establishment of the Group which was initially chaired by Macedonia and since May 2003 by Ms Adriana Civici of Albania.

The special nature of this Group has led to the development of a tailored strategy for trade liberalisation in SEE, as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding of June 2001 and elaborated in the yearly strategy and action plans. The strategy is designed to accommodate the particular economic climate in SEE and to expedite the region’s integration into European structures and the global trading system.

Today we are marking an important milestone in the implementation of that strategy, the completion of the network of bilateral free trade agreements envisaged under the MoU. While the technical negotiations on these agreements were completed in February of this year, the signing and ratification of several agreements has taken longer than anticipated due to, amongst other things, the changes in the constitutional status of Serbia and Montenegro. I am delighted that, with the signing of several more FTAs, we have just seen the irreversible proof that most of these difficulties have been overcome.

I know that the conclusion of all these agreements has not been an easy task and I would like to pay tribute to all the SEE ministers and their officials for their hard work and dedication to this process.

I am also pleased to note that Moldova is making good progress in fulfilling its commitment to the MoU and I look forward to seeing you complete your network of FTAs shortly. I also hope that a pragmatic way can be found to integrate UNMIK/Kosovo more fully into this process in line with UNSCR 1244.

As we move further into the implementation phase, it is obvious that the economic environment does not stand still and therefore it is vital that the governments of the region have the ability to continually improve the policy and regulatory framework. I believe that the Trade Working Group’s strategy and action plan for 2004, illustrates the valuable contribution it can make to this process.

The Ministerial Statement you will adopt today provides a clear indication of the SEE countries’ commitment to trade liberalisation, regional co-operation and their determination to expedite their integration into the European Union in line with the Thessaloniki Agenda. It recognises that the evolution of an economically efficient free trade area will make a substantial contribution to increasing the attractiveness of the region in terms of much needed foreign direct investment.

In adopting this statement, you have the full support of the international community. The SP Trade Working Group has been fortunate in the level and consistency of political and technical support it has received from multilateral organisations and bilateral governments. I have already highlighted DG Trade’s role and I would like to use this opportunity to thank the World Bank, the WTO and the OECD for making available such high calibre expertise. The UK, USA and Switzerland have been staunch supporters since the outset along with the neighbouring countries of Hungary, Slovenia and Turkey. Over the past year Germany, France and Sweden have come on board to provide valuable support and funding for Working Group initiatives.

On behalf of the Trade Working Group I can only urge you all to maintain, if not intensify, your support - it is vital to the success of this process.

I would like to briefly mention that the SP Trade Working Group is but one of a number of SP instruments that are at the disposal of South Eastern Europe in its efforts to ensure sustainable economic growth. The Pact’s Investment Compact, the Business Advisory Council and the Federation of Foreign Investors Councils are other tools which contribute to improving the overall economic climate. I urge you to make full use of these instruments as well as our initiatives in fighting organised crime and tackling corruption.

I will close by congratulating you again on the achievements to date. I commend you for your intention to maintain the level of ambition you have demonstrated thus far and I strongly encourage you to accelerate the pace of trade liberalisation in SEE. This will ensure that you fully exploit the economic and political benefits for your region.
You can rely on my full support for your actions and my constant commitment to promoting SEE as a region that is open for business.

Thank You