Ministers will define the next steps in bringing regulation in the EU and the Euro-Med countries closer. The goal is to give Euro-Med partners a stake in the European Union's internal market by ensuring that Mediterranean industrial products can enter the EU market without additional testing and vice versa.
Ministers will consider the next steps in the liberalisation of agricultural trade between the EU and the Euro-Med countries in processed and unprocessed agricultural products and fisheries.
Discussions will be launched on improving the procedural rules included in the Association Agreements to provide for simpler dispute settlement.
Ministers will also exchange views on the last developments in the multilateral trade DDA negotiations.
In the margin of the Ministerial conference, Commissioner Mandelson will formally launch the negotiations on the liberalisation of trade in services and improvements to rules for establishing businesses throughout the Euro-Med region. The Ministerial will agree a negotiating framework and set a timetable for negotiations.
Four months after the Barcelona Summit which marked the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona process, the Marrakech Ministerial comes at an important time. It aims to reinvigorate the Euro-Med process with an ambitious work programme in the trade area.
One of the major goals of the Barcelona Process is the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area by 2010. An essential part the Euro-Med process has been the negotiation of Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements between the European Union and Mediterranean countries. Association Agreements between the EU and all the Mediterranean countries except Syria have now entered into force. The EU is linked to Turkey by a Customs Union.
Since 1995, several initiatives have sought to encourage regional integration in the Southern Mediterranean and trade between Euro-Med countries. A number of Free Trade agreements have been concluded, including FTAs between Turkey and Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
marketing@alchempro.com
