October 06, 2009

The European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) was developed in 2004, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbors, and strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all concerned instead.

Relations between the European Union and Lebanon have since January 2007 been developed in the framework of the ENP, which builds on the EU/Lebanon Association Agreement. In this regard, and nearly three years after the adoption of this Action Plan, the ENP delegation is organizing a series of round tables in Beirut on October 7 and 8 to review ENP implementation. Representatives from the EU, in particular Deputy Director-General Hugues Mingarelli in charge of the ENP, the Lebanese authorities and civil society will attend these sessions aiming at evaluating the progress made and/or the obstacles encountered and formulating recommendations as to how to further develop EU/Lebanon relations.

Mr. Patrick Eid, Commissioner, Board member, Head of Market and Competition Unit at the TRA, will be participating in the round table session addressing "Trade related issues: market and regulatory reform" on the 8th of October 2009. This round table will be mainly discussing the following topics:

• Trade liberalization: WTO accession, regional integration, customs (including IPR), agriculture (Rabat roadmap, SPS)
• Enterprise policy: standards and conformity, business environment regulation, regulatory reform.

The hearings are open to the public and simultaneous interpretation from and into Arabic, English and French will be provided.

To view the agenda of the event, click here