New Horizons: Czechia Expands Dialogue with TRACECA

The talks were devoted to the practical aspects of cooperation, to the study of the institutional structure of the corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia and to the prospects for its development and expansion towards Europe. 

The agenda of the meeting covered the issues of studying the development strategy, the decision-making mechanisms and the priority areas of TRACECA’s activity. In particular, the discussions touched upon aspects of the current legislation. The Czech side pointed out a legal particularity: the legislation of the European Union imposes restrictions on the direct accession of EU countries to TRACECA as full members. In this connection, the delegates emphasised that today the mandate of TRACECA requires the involvement in the dialogue not only of representatives of the ministries of transport, but also of other national and regional structures within the European region. 

The main focus of the discussion was the integration of the corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia into European logistics routes in order to strengthen overall transport connectivity. 

The sides confirmed their readiness to maintain regular contacts with a view to building long-term cooperation that meets the interests of both the states of the European Union and the TRACECA member states. 

At the end of the meeting, the sides outlined plans to strengthen communication in order to explore in detail the possibilities for involving the European business community in joint projects along the corridor. 

Background: 

The discussion was attended by the Head of Policy Development and Monitoring Division of the Permanent Secretariat of the IGC TRACECA, representatives of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as heads and experts of leading Czech research institutes in the field of transport, relevant business associations and major technology companies specialising in intelligent transport systems, logistics and automatic weight and dimension control technologies.