Project Objectives

General Objectives

• to contribute to the overall economic and social development of MEDA countries through increased and more sustainable transport flows, more competitive trade and better balanced exchanges;
• to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of goods and passenger transport systems in the region, thus improving the functioning of the transport sector as a whole;
• to support the development of integrated multimodal transport networks and infrastructure, leading to improved transport flows, better connections and reductions in bottlenecks.
  
  

Specific Objectives

More specifically, the project aims to contribute to the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area and to promote economic integration among the 12 Mediterranean Partner Countries (see Project Beneficiaries), through providing assisting to these countries in:

• improving the functioning and the efficiency of the Mediterranean transport system by giving support to institutional and market reforms, promoting the harmonisation of operational norms and regulations and encouraging the coordination of transport policies (see Main Contract);
• developing and modernising the regional transport infrastructure network and ensuring its interconnection to the trans-European networks, by facilitating the mobilisation of resources for investment in commonly agreed priority infrastructure schemes (see Infrastructure Contract);
• promoting effective and efficient intermodal freight transport between the EU and the MEDA countries within the framework of the motorways of the sea concept, focusing on sea-land (rail, road and possibly inland waterway) connections and interfaces (see Motorways of the Sea Contract).