Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED) European Union

Course summary Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED) European Union:

The Union for the Mediterranean promotes economic integration and democratic reform across 16 neighbours to the EU’s south in North Africa and the Middle East.

Formerly known as the Barcelona Process, cooperation agreements were re-launched in 2008 as the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

Along with the 27 EU member states, 16 Southern Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern countries are members of the Union for the Mediterranean: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

The key objective of the trade partnership is the creation of a deep Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area, which aims at substantially liberalising trade between both the EU and Southern Mediterranean countries (North-South), and Southern Mediterranean countries themselves (South-South).

Trade in goods:
- EU exports to the Southern Mediterranean region in 2009: €119 billion
- EU imports from the Southern Mediterranean region in 2009: €105 billion
- EU total trade with the Southern Mediterranean countries was €224 billion in 2009- some 10% of total EU external trade.

The EU supports the strengthening of trade relations amongst Southern Mediterranean countries:
- the Agadir Agreement between Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt, in force since 2007, remains open to other Arab Mediterranean countries;
- Israel and Jordan have signed a Free Trade Agreement;
- Egypt, Israel, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Syria and Tunisia have signed bilateral agreements with Turkey.
- Negotiations are underway between other Mediterranean countries to establish similar agreements.

European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)

Example of the course Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED) European Union: