ISDS Case Map
EMFTA
Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area
The French have shown new initiative in the Maghreb through the idea of creating a Mediterranean Union. How serious is this project and what will its importance be amid existing European Union projects in the region, especially the Euro-Med project?
The European Union and the United States are increasingly involved in a widening medley of trade and other agreements in the Middle East and North Africa region. As the EU and US push for more and varied free trade agreements, rivalries between these global economic giants also spur competition among Arab countries.
The US since 2000 espoused even closer links between its strategic interests and trade liberalisation. Europe is not far behind.
Friends of the Earth MedNet has lodged a fierce protest against European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson for his part in attempting to establish a free trade zone encompassing the countries around the Mediterranean, including non-EU member countries.
Sarkozy said he hoped Morocco would play a "leading role" in a Mediterranean Union.
Trade ministers of the European Union (EU) and the southern Mediterranean countries on Sunday renewed their commitment to establish a free trade area in the region by 2010 and to enhance bilateral ties.
The head of state is making his first trip outside of Europe to Algeria and Tunisia. Nicolas Sarkozy flies this morning to Algiers, where he will have a meeting and working lunch with the president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, before going to Tunis.
Fresh from the European Council where Malta was admitted, along with Cyprus, to the eurozone, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is due to head a delegation and be one of the principal guests at a high level investment conference that is being held in La Baule, France, this week.
In 2010 a free trade area will be established within the so-called Euromed zone that will make matters worse for poorer communities in the Mediterranean region. The renowned academic and activist Tonino Perna anticipates that some four million small farmers with less than three hectares of land and small fishermen will be swamped out of business by big companies with big money.
Foreign ministers of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) announced at the conclusion of their 26th round in Rabat that they would establish a Maghreb investment and trade bank owned by the central banks of the five AMU member states (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania) with an initial capital of $1 billion, i.e. sevenfold the total assets of their commercial banks.
