| EU grants 72 Mio. Euros for the project implementation of the Union for the Mediterranean |
| During the summit in Paris in July 2008, where the Union for the Mediterranean was officially launched, a list of projects was created to cover regional projects in six different sectors. The EU recently started supporting this Union by financing the projects with a grant of 72 Mio. Euros. The Union for the Mediterranean is a community, initiated on July 13th 2008 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to further develop the Euromediterranean partnership, known as the Barcelona Process. It unifies all EU members with the non-EU countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. The idea is to form economical as well as political links between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Barcelona was chosen to be the host of the headquarters of the Union of the Mediterranean. Egypt is holding the current 1st presidency. The grant shall assist the development of the sectors of Environment, Transport and New and Renewable Energies. 5 Mio. Euro are planned to support the Mediterranean Solar Plan which aims at generating about 45 % of the European electricity consumption from solar energy plants build in the southern Mediterranean countries. It was further declared that projects of sustainable management in the water sector will be aided with a budget of 22 Mio. Euros. The education sector shall receive about 1 Mio Euros to financially support scholarships for students from the southern part of the Mediterranean area to complete their studies in the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI) in Slovenia. Another 7.5 Mio. Euros will finance the development of maritime routes as well as the completion of the land and maritime transport network and 32 Mio. Euros were budgeted for capacity development projects which will be implemented with the assistance of the public sector. |
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