1) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions:

“A Southern gas corridor must be developed for the supply of Gas from Caspian and Middle Eastern sources which could potentially supply a significant part of the EU’s future (energy) needs. This is  one of the EU’s highest energy security priorities. The Commission and the member states need to work with the countries concerned as a matter of priority, notably with partners such as Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, Iraq and Mashreq countries, amongst others, with the joint objective of rapidly securing firm commitments for the supply of gas and the construction of the pipelines necessary for all stages of its development. In the longer term,  when political conditions permit, supplies from other countries in the region should represent a further significant supply source for the EU”.

Source: Commission of the European Communities, An EU Energy Security and Solidarity Action Plan – Second Strategic Energy Review, Brussels 13.11.2008 COM (2008) 781 final
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0781:FIN:EN:PDF

2) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council:

The European Union has a vital interest in seeing stability, better governance and economic development at its Eastern borders. At the same time, our partners in Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus all seek to intensify their relations with the EU… The present communication sets out proposals for an Eastern Partnership.
The Eastern Partnership should bring a lasting political message of EU solidarity, alongside additional, tangible support for their democratic and market oriented reforms and the consolidation of their statehood and territorial integrity. This serves the stability, security and prosperity of the EU, partners and indeed the entire continent,… The Eastern Partnership will provide a new framework where common challenges can be addressed. Four policy platforms are proposed below, on democracy, good governance and stability; economic integration and convergence with EU policies; energy security; and contacts between people.
The Eastern Partnership will also advance through a number of flagship initiatives. These initiatives should seek to mobilize multi-donor support, funding from different International Financial Institutions and investment from the private sector. The Commission considers that they could include an Integrated Border management program; an SME Facility; promotion of Regional electricity markets, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources development of the Southern Energy corridor; and cooperation on Prevention  of, preparedness for, and response to natural and man – made disasters.
Participation… beyond government representatives and the European Commission… particular attention should be paid to the involvement of civil society. The Commission proposes to support the further development of Civil Society Organizations and to establish an EaP Civil society Forum to promote contacts among CSOs and facilitate their dialogue with public authorities.

Source: Commission of the European Communities Eastern Partnership COM (2008) 823 final, Brussels 03.12.2008
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0823:FIN:EN:PDF

3) Council of the European Union:

“Stressing the importance of diversifying sources, fuels and routes of energy supply, the European Council underlines the increasingly important part played by energy in the EU’s external relations. It invites the Commission to present by the end of the year proposals for concrete action on the development of the Southern corridor including a mechanism to facilitate access to Caspian gas”.

Source: Presidency Conclusions – Brussels 19/20 March 2009
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/106809.pdf

4) Council of the European Union; Declaration by the European Council on the Eastern Partnership:

“The Eastern Partnership will bring about a significant strengthening of EU policy with regard to its Eastern partners by seeking to create the necessary conditions for political association and further economic integration between the European Union and its Eastern partners through the development of a specific Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood policy”.

Source: Presidency Conclusions- Annex 2  - Brussels 19/20 March 2009.

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/106809.pdf

5) Council of the European Union; Prague Summit  - Eastern Partnership declaration:

The Heads of State or Government and Representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, the Representatives of the European Union and the Heads of State or Government and Representatives of its Member States have met in Prague today  to bring their relationship to a new level by establishing the Eastern Partnership.

“The Participants of the Prague Summit Agree on the necessity to promote key principles and purpose of the Eastern Partnership among the public, mobilize support for and raise awareness of it. The increased visibility of concrete projects and activities will bring the initiatives closer to citizens” .

Source: Council of the European Union , 8435/09,(Presse 78), Brussels  7 May 2009.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/er/107589.pdf

6) Southern Corridor, Prague Summit between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries Joint Declaration, May 8th , 2009.

“We, the participant of the Southern Corridor Summit held in Prague on the 8th of May 2009; express our political support to the realization of the Southern Corridor as an important and mutually beneficial initiative, which will lead to the promotion of common prosperity, stability and security of all countries involved …………………………………………………
…………………………………………………
(we) consider the Southern Corridor concept as a modern Silk Road interconnecting countries and people from different regions and establishing the adequate framework, necessary for encouraging trade, multidirectional exchange of know-how, technologies and experience”………..

Done and signed in Prague on 8th May 2009 in the presence of the representative of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of Georgia, the President of Turkey, the Minister of Arab Republic, the President of the European Council and the president of the European Commission.

Source: Prague Summit, The  Southern Corridor,  Prague May 8th , 2009
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/news-and-documents/press-releases/declaration—prague-summit–southern-corridor–may-8–2009-21533/

7) “A New Silk Road”,

“The Southern corridor offers geographically new sources of energy. As the title of this Summit suggests, this could amount to a renewed “Silk Road” opening the potential for enhanced relations with the countries of the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia”.

Jose Manuel Barosso, President of the European Commission, speech /09/228, Prague Summit, The Southern Corridor Summit, Prague May 8th, 2009

http://www.eu2009.cz/en/news-and-documents/speeches-interviews/projev-jose-manuela-barrosa-na-summitu-jizni-koridor—nova-hedvabna-stezka-21592/

 Summit “Southern Corridor - New Silk Roads” photos:
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/summit-southern-corridor—new-silk-road—declaration–family-photo–press-conference-21749/

9) The Eastern Partnership: getting down to work.

Four Weeks after the launch of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) the EU and its Eastern neighbors are getting down to work. One of the innovations of the EaP is a new multilateral dimension to relations with these countries alongside the bilateral path of cooperation. The first Eastern Partnership focus on democracy, good governance and stability. The other platforms, devoted to economic integration, energy and people to people contacts, will also be launched during the month of June. The aim of the platforms is to support the eastern partners’ efforts to approximate to EU standards, to foster exchanges of experience and best practice and to strengthen contacts between them.

Press Release, IP/09/872 Brussels 4 June 2009

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/872&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

A summit of the European Union and the Southern Corridor countries in Prague was completed today (8th May 2009).
In addition to the highest representatives of the Czech Presidency and the European Commission, the summit was attended by representatives of Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Observers from the USA, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also arrived in Prague to attend the summit.
“The Southern Corridor should not be a one-way road to transport energy feedstock from the Caspian region to Europe”, declared President of the European Council Mirek Topolánek, “but a two-way highway for the exchange of goods, investments, knowledge and people – a modern Silk Road of sorts”. According to Mirek Topolánek, such a corridor could be ushered in by the Nabucco gas pipeline, for instance.
During the summit, President of the European Council Mirek Topolánek, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Turkey Abdullah Gül and Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy signed a joint declaration that should pave the way for a more intensive cooperation between regions and also between individual states.
The signing was further attended by the representatives of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan who expressed their support for the Southern Corridor project and agreed to the specific inclusion of their countries in the declaration.

http://greenproject2008.com/up/1/DeclarationPragueSummitSouthernCorridor8-5-2009.pdf

http://greenproject2008.com/up/1/Manuel_Barroso_Speech_8-5-2009.pdf

Open call to volunteers: Please complete the relative form in case you are interested to be part of the green project.

Join In…

The Green Project (GP) is a voluntary initiative of a group of 73 scientists and artists, with the purpose of forging environmental conscience through artistic creation.

Within the framework of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and of the Cultural Year of Greece in China, the GP crew team will travel along a “Green Journey: Athens-Beijing 2008 form the Silk Roads to the Energy Roads”. It will cover 11,121 km, using low CO2, emission vehicles, travelling through Greece – Turkey – Georgia – Azerbaijan – Turkmenistan – Uzbekistan – Kyrgyzstan – Kazakhstan - China.

The crew will embark on a symbolic quest on the one-time “silk roads” itinerary, which is now defined by the energy trade, and will have the purpose of promoting bioclimatic architecture and renewable energy sources, though the use of the artistic media of photography, video art, documentary film, sound installations, painting and architecture. Relevant presentations will take place in the capitals of the countries of the “energy roads”.

What lies beyond the Athens-Beijing 2008 itinerary? First of all, it is a “green” journey.  Since each and every journey never has a solitary objective, so this trip also includes a return journey to the one time “Roads of Silk”, which since the 1st century B.C. has connected Europe with the “Silk Country” and has functioned for 1600 years as a channel of communication between peoples and civilizations, promoting the exchange of ideas, technologies, sciences and knowledge between the East and the West.

As already mentioned, the GP crew team consists of scientists and artists. For them, the main challenge of the journey is not the final destination, since it changes daily during the stops of the itinerary. It is mostly the expression of each participant’s search for  ideas and visual perceptions through the common need to promote the need for the application of renewable energy sources.

Beyond that, the result of this creation –which is nothing but its reception from the general public– is not prejudged from the statement of intentions of the creators. What is finally there, is the reconstruction of all that was left outside one’s creation, those that in the end, are somehow revealed beyond the surface, and which the viewer will independently choose to “perceive” through looking at it.

The GP’s Green Journey, therefore, represents much more than a “green” dedicated science and art activity. It is a journey during which, art and science turn a new hope, a desire to achieve the getaway from all the things that deteriorate the existing reality.

The Coordination Committee of the Green Project

Thodoris Anagnostopoulos
Eleni Kanetaki
Maria Pesli
Penny Soteres
Yannis Tzortzis