Global Insider: Path to Upgraded EU-Southern Med Ties Will Be Long, Slow

Global Insider: Path to Upgraded EU-Southern Med Ties Will Be Long, Slow

At the end of November, the European Union approved the launch of free trade talks with Morocco as part of an effort to upgrade existing agreements with southern Mediterranean countries. In an email interview, Susi Dennison, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, discussed the EU’s economic relationship with its southern neighbors.

WPR: What is driving the EU to seek upgraded free trade agreements with Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt?

Susi Dennison: After the revolutions in North Africa in early 2011, and the ensuing criticism of the EU’s failure to challenge the previous autocratic regimes, the EU committed to a complete renovation of its policy toward its southern and eastern neighborhood, with the twin goals of supporting “deep and sustainable democracy” and “inclusive economic development.” The EU promise was, quite simply, that it would offer more money, access to markets and mobility to those states that delivered more on domestic reform. Although the idea of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTAs) predate the Arab uprisings, the commitment to moving them forward now should be seen as part of the market component of this revised package: an attempt to update trade deals that belong to an earlier moment.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review