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EMFTA


Re-branding the EU-South Mediterranean Relations: What Comprehensive FTAs?
The European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council decision of 14 December 2011 to grant the European Commission a negotiation mandate to study and launch negotiations for Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTA) with Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt, which would extend current partial free trade areas in goods to incorporate services and public procurement and some regulatory harmonization with the EU, are part of the Union’s broader trade strategy.
EU: Free trade area around the Mediterranean a priority at trade ministers’ meeting
The EuroMed meeting in Brussels today adopted a roadmap for the establishment of a free trade area around the Mediterranean starting in 2010. Support was also given for a regional convention with uniform rules on the origin of goods.
What’s New in the EU: Barcelona Process sets priorities for 2009
Foreign Ministers from all 43 states of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, known as the Barcelona Process, met in Marseille on Monday and Tuesday to endorse plans for the mandate, structure and institutional governance of the process. The initiative, launched at the Paris Summit in July, aims at injecting a renewed political momentum into the EU’s relations with the Mediterranean states through the reinforcement of shared ownership and the achievement of wider visibility through a far-reaching program of projects.
EU Parliament head discusses EU-Syria pact with Syrian president
The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, discussed the future signature of a EU-Syria Association Agreement, during a meeting on Sunday in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
EU says early partnership pact possible with Syria
The European Union could sign a long-stalled partnership pact with Syria this year, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Sunday at the Paris launch of a new "Union for the Mediterranean"
EU, Mediterranean states try to push trade talks on
EU trade ministers and their counterparts from 13 Mediterranean countries tried to find ways on Wednesday to boost commercial flows but experts said their aim of a free trade area by 2010 looked unattainable.
EU decision to upgrade relationship with Israel reveals Europe’s selective adherence to human rights standards
Monday’s announcement for increased relations concerns three areas: diplomatic cooperation; Israel’s participation in European plans and agencies; and an examination of possible Israeli integration into the European Single Market.
Europe aims to build links with Mediterranean neighbors
A new body should reinvigorate the proposal for a Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone by 2010, a new European Commission document says.
EU leaders agree on watered-down "Club Med" plan
European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to a watered-down version of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s grand design for a Mediterranean Union to boost ties with the bloc’s southern neighbours.
The Mediterranean Union: Dividing the Middle East and North Africa
The Middle East and North Africa are in the process of being divided into spheres of influence between the European Union and the United States. Essentially the division of the Middle East and North Africa are between Franco-German and Anglo-American interests. There is a unified stance within NATO in regards to this re-division.
Avert a new failed Mediterranean scheme
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?
Vying for position
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.
Joining the fold
The US since 2000 espoused even closer links between its strategic interests and trade liberalisation. Europe is not far behind.
EU tries to establish Mediterranean free trade zone, meets fierce opposition
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.
France backs Morocco push for closer EU ties
Sarkozy said he hoped Morocco would play a "leading role" in a Mediterranean Union.
EU, Mediterranean nations renew commitment to establish free trade zone by 2010
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.
Sarkozy tests the Mediterranean Union in the Maghreb
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.
PM to attend key investment conference
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.
Prospects for fairer trade in the Mediterranean
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.
Reviving the Maghreb Union through economy before politics
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.