Ministerial Conference on a Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea

Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission organize, on 21 May, a Ministerial Conference on a Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea. Event takes place under Romania’s EU Council Presidency.

Aim of the Conference is to enable the Black Sea littoral countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine) and Republic of Moldova to adopt a Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea at the level of ministers with competences in the field of maritime affairs, in the presence of a high-level representative of the European Commission. Agenda, which has been negotiated with the support of the European Commission, focuses on fields related to the „blue economy”, which can contribute to the sustainable economic development of the region and especially of the coastal regions (maritime affairs, fisheries and aquaculture, research and innovation, connectivity, environment protection, tourism, education and the development of skills required for a maritime economy).

Adoption of the Common Maritime Agenda is one of the priorities of the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council, within the third pillar - „Europe, as a stronger global actor”. Common Maritime Agenda allows the littoral countries and the Republic of Moldova to work together, for the first time, in flexible formats, on a voluntary basis, in order to implement joint projects that address the needs and priorities identified for the Black Sea region and to attract and prioritize European funds and investment in a more efficient manner.

This informal cooperation process, launched in 2017 with the support of the European Commission, is designed to complement and incentivize the other cooperation processes in the Black Sea region, acting in synergy with them. This process also represents a substantial contribution of the European Union to the implementation of the Black Sea Synergy, as pointed out in the evaluation report published on the 5th of March 2019 by the European External Action Service and the European Commission.

Source:Romania2019.eu