After the European Community’s agreement with the Maghreb countries and the Lomé Convention the trump cards have been played in the game of the EC's Mediterranean policy in the traditional sense. A new game is starting now, and the distribution of the cards is different.

Shipping and ports are like Siamese twins: neither can live without the other. The trouble is that due to rapid technical progress in shipbuilding it has become difficult to provide the shipping industry with both in the right proportion and at the same time.