Main Conclusions - Minutes of the Meeting

Main Conclusions - Minutes of the Meeting.

Introduction
The meeting was opened by Greece that presented the Meeting's objective and Agenda.

The purpose of the informal Meeting was an exchange of views and information concerning the Mediterranean Component of the EUWI. The intention to launch a Mediterranean Component has been presented by President Prodi and the Minister of FA of Greece in Johannesburg. Following that, the Hellenic Government reconfirmed its intention and willingness to lead such a Component. The launching of this new Component has also been strongly supported by the EC. The first presentation of the Concept Note of the Med Component was done during the Meeting of the MSF of the EUWI on 3-4 December 2002. The Med Component shares the objectives of the EUWI and other Components and it aims at contributing to the implementation of the MDGs and the WSSD targets on water, sanitation and IWRM and water efficiency plans. The Med Component will build on and will be integrated in existing regional processes, aiming at providing a platform for strategic partnerships in the Region, being evolved through an open-ended and participatory process.

The kick-off Meeting aimed at facilitating discussions among involved actors in the Med Region, for specifying the objectives and content of the Component and for finalising its Concept Paper, at formulating a Work Plan for the design phase of the Component, at starting an identification process of key building blocks in the Med Region as well as at collecting input for formulating the Working Group that will steer the process onwards.

Some 35 participants (attachment 1: participants' list) from governments, EC DGs, intergovernmental organisations, regional networks, NGOs, local authorities etc attended the Meeting.

The EU Water Initiative
The representative of EC DG DEV presented the EUWI's elements, objectives, scope and modalities. Presentation stressed the emphasis given by the EUWI on increasing the partnership approach by actively engaging stakeholders, especially the private sector, from EU countries, the EC and most importantly the partner regions. It also stressed the fact that EUWI aims at facilitating a process for building blocks and partners identification and at better coordinating water programmes and projects, targeting to a more effective use of existing funds and mobilising of new financial resources. The 5 regional (IWRM-Africa, WSS-Africa, EECCA, Med, Latin America) and the 2 horizontal (Research, Financing) Components of the EUWI were also presented, stressing the need to take activities to the ground level, especially in Africa.

The Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative
GWP-Med that is facilitating the whole process on behalf of Greece presented the background, scope and basic elements, activities up to now and next steps of the Med Component as described in the Component's Concept Note (attachment 2: Concept Note). Presentation stressed that the Med Component will give emphasis on regional priorities, according to the needs and strategies defined together with partner countries, stakeholders and local actors that are actively engaged in this process from the beginning, as well as with other European partners and the European Commission.
During this preparatory phase, the Focus Themes of the Med Component will be WSS with emphasis on the poorest part of the societies, and IWRM with emphasis on transboundary waters which is an issue of particular importance for this region. The Mediterranean Component will also focus, at a later stage, on the issues of Water, food and environment interaction, with emphasis on fragile ecosystems, as well as on the promotion of Non-conventional water resources. Emphasis will also be given to the promotion of an enabling environment for stakeholders in the Region aiming at their involvement in all stages of implementation of related activities and the promotion of ownership in partner countries by supporting meaningful partnerships. Technology and capacity building transfer, education, benchmarking and awareness raising will be key elements and some of the cross-cutting themes pertaining to all Focus Themes of the Component. The assessment of existing financial flows and the exploration of new and innovative sources of finance will also be an important tool in achieving the Component's objectives. Presentation concluded with a suggested time schedule for activities until the end of the June 2003.

Discussion
Discussion mainly focused on defining: the objectives and content of the Med Component, the Work Plan of the Preparatory Phase (up to July 2003) and its follow up process as well as the mechanisms to enhance partners' interest and participation in the Component.

Some of the key issues raised and discussed can be summed up as follows:
- Agriculture and in particularly irrigated agriculture and its importance for the Med Region, in the context of water management, environmental protection and food security have to be addressed and integrated in the Med Component's objectives. In this context, there is need to involve FAO, DG Agri and other regional based institutions engaged in bottom-up activities in this field.

- Meeting water supply and demand in the Med is still a main challenge for the Region. In this context, opportunities from water recycling and desalinisation have to be examined on a cost -effective basis and water pricing policies in the Med have to be carefully assessed, taking into account social aspects, the need for water to be defined as a global public good as well as other political issues e.g. subsidising of water services.

- Stakeholders and especially local stakeholders, professionals and the people in need, should be an integral part of shaping and promoting the Med Component. Stakeholders should be meaningfully engaged in the process from the beginning. Moreover, the process for involving Mediterranean Non-EU countries and accession countries in the Med Component procedures should be ensured.

- There is need for defining in detail the geographic scope of the med Component, i.e. which countries should be involved, which should be the partner countries in the process, what should be the criteria for countries' involvement. Commission (DG RELEX, MEDA funds) suggested that Cion's clustering for Med countries according to the MEDA funds should be retained also for the Med Component, aiming at avoiding touching upon delicate political issues that might arise form an IWRM-shared waters approach. Others suggested that the main criterion should be the avoidance of overlaps with other Components (e.g. African Components). Others suggested that focus should be laid on technical aspects and where the real needs are, on a river basin/catchment/aquifer approach. Greece suggested that all countries of the Mediterranean should be included and that countries' identification is based on an investment approach, taking into account the existing sources of funding from the Commission (e.g. SMAP, MEDA and CARDS), M/S (ODA) and other donors (e.g. EIB). Such an approach would also entail coverage of all Balkan countries.

- There is a great range of funding sources for the Med Region but there is lack of comprehensive data on financial flows to partner countries. One of the outcomes of the preparatory phase of the Med Component should be the compilation of an Inventory aiming at tracking financial flows from the EC and M/S (ODA). Coordination with the OECD's DAC for data collection and quality control as well as with other donors (e.g. WB) is also necessary. Identification of financial flows should not be limited to previous years. In this context, it would more important to assess commitments in the pipeline as well as the medium and long-term donor strategies and focus (geographic, thematic).

- In order to compile an inventory of previous and future/channeled ODA flows, the DAC data sheets and inventories could be used as a basis. Practices used by the EUWI's Financial Component Group could also be employed (e.g. questionnaires to governments, donor focused workshops). Data from the Med Stat, EMWIS and the Global Assessment and Joint Monitoring Programme should also be considered. The organisation of sub-regional workshops aiming at an analysis of gaps with the participation of donors and recipients could assist the data collection exercise; workshops should aim at identifying donors' priorities which should be assessed and tested across recipient countries needs and priorities. Italy offered to assist this effort. There was a general consensus on the fact that any analysis and data collection should be done on a demand-driven approach laying emphasis on the identification of needs of partners. Many stressed that lack of detailed data on water (per sector and extended time series) is mainly due to the fact that water is not considered as an economic sector per se but pertains to other economic sectors.

- EC (DG ENV) suggested that the Med Component should start small and focus on identifying hot-spot areas and problems, financial flows and ways to reformulate aid to meet real needs. The 2 main targets from the JPoI that have to be met are the preparation of IWRM and water efficiency plans by 2005 and the target on safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015. On the long-run, the Med Component should prepare a long-term strategy for meeting these targets until 2015. On the short-run and until 2005, some 2-3 demonstrations projects should be identified for river basins that the MEDA funds have not showed any specific results so far, and focus on implementing the IWRM approach on the ground level.

- Bringing issues to the EU Council's Working Group on Development could also assist efforts for moving things forward and, in particular, the mapping exercise of financial flows and demands.

- Commitment at the highest possible level from each involved country would be crucial for implementing the Component's objectives, especially during its preparatory phase.

- Greece suggested that the identification of various building blocks and stepping-stones within a river basin, the exploration of synergies among them, the identification of gaps and the promotion of complementary elements/activities to achieve IWRM, should be a key objective for the design phase of the Component.

- Cross-cutting issues such as training and technological & know-how transfer to partner countries as well as education projects should pertain to all sectoral focus themes of the Component and be in the first set of concrete actions.

Establishment of a Working Group for the development of the Mediterranean Component - Terms of Reference
Greece will prepare a draft ToR for the Component and discuss it with partners during the next Meeting of the Med Component Working Group. Some of the main elements for the ToR should be:
- bringing participants on a common platform
- emphasis on promotion of awareness on the Med Component
- working group should be an open-ended group
- mechanisms to ensure countries' commitment
- mechanisms to ensure active participation and involvement from different sectors and from recipient countries and their stakeholders (e.g. networks from the South) from an early stage.

Presentation of the Mediterranean Component in Kyoto
Greece briefly presented the Agendas of the Regional Days of Middle East and Mediterranean and of Europe, to be held on 20.3.03 and 21.3.03 respectively, in the framework of the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto and briefly commented on how the Med Component is envisaged to be presented during these events (attachment 3: Agendas of Regional Day of Middle East and Mediterranean & Regional Day of Europe).

Next Meetings and related events
Greece presented again the proposed activities/time schedule of the Component's preparatory phase until end of June 2003, as featuring in the Concept Note. Reference was also made to 2 major events organised by Greece within the first semester of 2003 which are intended to assist in bringing fast the Component in an operational stage: the International Conference on Sustainable Development for Lasting Peace: Shared Water, Shared Knowledge, Shared Future, co-organised with the World Bank, on 6-7 May, in Athens, and the Hellenic Water Week, with a series of events on the Water Framework Directive, with an emphasis on how its impact could be enlarged in the neighboring countries outside the European Union as well as the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative. Participants to the MSF of the EUWI and the WG on the Med Component will be invited to attend both events; next meetings of the Med Component's WG will be held in conjunction with these Conferences.