Resource information
This study argues that the 15 European
Union (EU) countries and their 12 Mediterranean Partners
should complement their Euro-Mediterranean free-trade area
for industrial goods with a common transport space. This
would require the removal of policy-induced frictions in the
region's multi-modal transport system in order to
facilitate the flow of foods, people, and investments within
this emerging trade block. The purpose of this report is to
identify the bottlenecks and inefficiencies that currently
exist and to map out the reforms in the legal, regulatory,
and institutional framework that should be implemented to
address them. This includes both national and cross-border
policy measures in the various modes (air, maritime, and
land-based transport) as well as in transport logistics. The
study compares sector performance and sector policies within
the concerned countries and it benchmarks these against
international best practice. It draws on policy lessons from
other developing regions, such as Latin America and Eastern
Europe and assesses the extent to which the policy framework
of the EU Single Market in the transport sector could
provide guidance for the creation of a common transport
space throughout the Mediterranean region.
