Observing Participants

The 6^th Ministerial Council held on 15 November 2022 endorsed a Joint Statement calling for the more systematic involvement of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Georgia as the Observing Participants in the relevant Transport Community bodies, including, but not limited to the Regional Steering Committee (RSC), technical committees, the Social Forum, and the Budget Committee.

In December 2022, the Transport Community submitted a grant application to the European Commission (DG NEAR) on conducting preparatory activities to support the progressive involvement of Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine in the activities of the Transport Community. Grant was approved with the reference number NDICI-GEO-NEAR/2022/441-320 with the availability until 31 December 2023, financed under the Neighborhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument-Global Europe. The purpose of this grant was to increase the Observing Participants’ capacities and understanding of EU transport policies over 2023.

During 2023, numerous events were organised at both high political and technical levels. Representatives of the Observing Participants attended RSC meetings, ministerial council, technical committee meetings, connectivity summit, summer school and expert trainings/workshops.

Drafting five action plans on Rail, Road, Road Safety, Transport Facilitation and Waterborne Transport for the Observing Participants was the highlight during the year. This joint task has been realized between by the TCT Secretariat experts and the Observing Participants. In this regard, the TCT Secretariat, with the support of the European Commission, organised workshops (April/May in Belgrade) to discuss identified measures as well as timelines. In addition, the Observing Participants were introduced to other strategic documents under the domain of the TCT Secretariat – presentations held by the TCT Secretariat experts.
The above-mentioned action plans were thoroughly discussed on a regular basis with the Observing Participants during various technical meetings held throughout 2023. Due to good communication channels held between the TCT Secretariat and all three Observing Participants and based on the relevant collected date, the TCT Secretariat managed to draft first light version of the reports for the Observing Participants: 

– TEN-T Annual Report

– Initial Report on EU Acquis Transposition

These reports were presented to the European Commission and the Observing Participants during the Ministerial Council meeting held in Skopje in December 2023.

The Transport Community submitted a new grant application to the European Commission in December 2023 which was approved with the reference number NDICI-GEO-NEAR/2023/452688 to continue supporting further progressive involvement of the Observing Participants during 2024-2025.