Ministerial Meeting of the Stability Pact's Trade Working Group, Rome 13 November 2003

The Italian EU Presidency hosted the third Ministerial meeting of the Stability Pact’s Working Group on Trade in Rome on 13 November 2003. The meeting included the signature of four more free trade agreements (FTAs), thus completing the network of FTAs among the countries of the region in line with the Memorandum of Understanding on Trade adopted on 27 June 2001; the agreement between Serbia and Montenegro and Romania will be signed by the end of the year.

Ministers from the eight SEE countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Romania and Serbia and Montenegro) - also unanimously adopted a Ministerial Statement that foresees the development of an economically efficient free trade area in SEE, as envisaged in the Thessaloniki Agenda. The representative of UNMIK informed the meeting of their efforts to integrate further into this trade liberalisation process in line with UNSCR 1244 and indicated their support for the commitments outlined in the Ministerial Statement.

This free trade area will significantly improve the capacity of the region to attract much needed foreign direct investment as well as expediting the integration of the countries into European structures and the multilateral trading system.

The Ministerial was chaired by Adolfo Urso, Italian Minister for Foreign Trade, and addressed on behalf of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini. The Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact, Erhard Busek and the European Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy were keynote speakers. Minister Doko of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the current chair of the South East European Co-operation Process also addressed the meeting.

Representatives of the various international organisations and bilateral governments active in the SP Trade Working Group voiced their continuing support for the process.