PRESS RELEASE 

The second Regional Conference of the EuroMed Justice II Project took place in Brussels on 19 October 2009. The conference was opened by Marcus CORNARO, Director, Directorate A "Europe, Southern Mediterranean, Middle-East and Neighbourhood Policy", DG EuropeAid Co-operation Office, European Commission, Brussels, and conducted by Anna Abariotou, Head of Sector in charge of the EuroMed Justice II Project, Unit A3 “Centralised Operations for Europe, the Mediterranean and Middle-East”, DG EuropeAid Co-operation Office, European Commission, Brussels.

This project is being implemented by a consortium led by the European Institute of Public Administration through its European Centre for the Regions (EIPA-ECR) in Barcelona and also composed of the Spanish General Council of the Judiciary and the International and Ibero-American Foundation of Public Administration and Policies (Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas, FIIAPP). 

Then the Project Team presented the results achieved to date as well as the overall work plan. 

The conference was attended by delegations of experts and representatives of all the 9 Mediterranean Partners, as well as by delegations from various EU Member States and representatives of The Hague Conference, the Council of Europe (CEPEJ), UNODC and the EuroMed Migration Project. 

This Conference marked the end of the first implementation phase of the EuroMed Justice II Project. During this first phase all activities scheduled in the work plan were implemented. 

12 Working Groups Meetings took place addressing the various issues agreed upon during the First Regional Conference – the Opening Conference – and related to the three thematic axes of the project: Access to justice and Legal aid; Resolution of cross-border family conflicts; and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters and Penitentiary Law.  Overall, more that 250 persons took part in these meetings. 

This conference offered an opportunity to present the main conclusions on which a consensus was reached during the 12 working groups meetings. On that occasion, the Project Team also presented the agreements reached by consensus on the contents and activities to be developed during the second phase of the project, its methodology and the implementation timetable. This second phase will be carried out until the end of 2010 with 18 training seminars, 10 study visits, 2 meetings of Directors of Judicial Schools and other activities foreseen in the project being organised during that period.