Euro-Mediterranean free trade area

The European Union-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EU-MED FTA, EMFTA), also called the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area or Euromed FTA, is based on the Barcelona Process and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The Barcelona Process, developed after the Barcelona Conference in successive annual meetings, is a set of goals designed to lead to a free trade area in the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East by 2010.

It is envisioned that an FTA with Rules of Origin with Pan-Euro-Mediterranean cumulation will be created. It will cover the EU, the EFTA, the EU customs unions with third states (Turkey, Andorra, San Marino), the EU candidate states, the partners of the Barcelona Process and possibly at a later stage all of the European Neighbourhood Policy partners. [1].

The Agadir Agreement of 2004 (FTA between Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt) is seen as its first building block. Further steps are envisioned into the ENP Action plans negotiated between the European Union and the partner states on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

The initial aim is to create a matrix of Free Trade Agreements between each of the partners and the others. Then a single free trade area is to be formed, including the European Union.

The Agadir Agreement is seen also as a stepping stone to the formation of a Great Arab Free Trade Area [2]. The Arab League has recently announced that the Agadir organization is expected to include all 22 Arab Members by 2015, and expects the Arab League to become a powerful economic organization by 2025.

As of 1 January 2005, the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) came into existence, consisting of most members of the Arab League. This organization essentially supersedes the Agadir Agreement and achieves the initial aims of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area by effectively creating a free trade agreement between most Arab Maghreb states along with most of the Middle East.

Partners

• European Union
• Morocco
• Algeria
• Tunisia
• Egypt
• Jordan
• Lebanon
• Israel
• Palestinian National Authority

Prospective partners

• Syria
• Libya (member of the Arab Maghreb Union)
• Gulf Cooperation Council
• Iraq
• Mauritania (member of the Arab Maghreb Union)

FTA Progress

See also

• African Economic Community
• Economic integration
• Mediterranean Union
• Middle East economic integration
• List of free trade agreements
• List of trade blocs
• Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe
• US-Middle East Free Trade Area (US-MEFTA)

External links

General overviews:

• Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements, Summaries of EU Legislation, EU website, 2007. Consulted September 4, 2010.
• System of Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Cumulation, European Commission Taxation and Customs Union page. Consulted September 4, 2010.
• Euro-Med free trade area: the benefits of cumulation, EFTA Bulletin, Switzerland, July–August 2006. Consulted September 4, 2010.

More specific studies:

• European Union–Developing Country FTAs: Overview and Analysis, by JOSEPH F. FRANCOIS, MATTHEW MCQUEEN and GANESHAN WIGNARAJA, in "World Development" Vol. 33, No. 10, pp. 1545–1565, 2005, Elsesvier Ltd, UK.
• Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area - Is It Time to Be Optimistic about the Future?, by Eylin Ege on the IEMed Observatory website, Barcelona, no date. Consulted 4 September 2010.
• The Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area and its Impact on the Economies Involved, by Nicola Minasi, Rome, no date. Consulted September 4, 2010.
• THE EUROMEDITERRANEAN FREE TRADE AREA: FROM COMPETITION TO INTEGRATION, by Alejandro Lorca and Gonzalo Escribano, Madrid, no date. Consulted September 4, 2010.