Jordan Times
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Jordan joins Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco in signing Aghadir Agreement today
Towards the creation of a subregional free trade zone
AMMAN (JT) — Jordan is expected to sign a benchmark agreement today to create a free trade area with Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, according to the European Commission (EC).The pact, dubbed the Aghadir Agreement, is a “crucial” step towards the creation of a subregional free trade zone, which the four partners initially agreed on in May 2001.
“The Aghadir Agreement will offer further momentum towards the goal of achieving a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area by 2010 initiated by the Barcelona Declaration in 1995,” an EC statement indicated.
The agreement will create an integrated market of more than 100 million people in the four countries involved, thus providing new attractive opportunities for European investors in the region.
In a statement made available to The Jordan Times, European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said this agreement will create a quantum leap for the Mediterranean regional integration as well as “foster private investment in the region.”
“I strongly encourage other Euro-Med partners to join this agreement,” Patten stated.
The EC has been one of the main “political supporters” of the initiative since the Aghadir Declaration was signed in 2001, supporting it with a 4-million-euro programme, the statement indicated.
The European Union (EU), however, has pledged to support the Aghadir Process from both a “financial and technical” point of view.
The programme designed to help the Association Agreement signatories to develop free trade horizontally among themselves — and vertically with the EU — was launched in 2003.
Pending conclusion of an agreement with Syria, the EU has already concluded far-reaching Association Agreements with all the other Mediterranean partners, in an effort at encouraging closer political, economic and social ties with the region.
In the Barcelona Declaration in 1995, the 27 Euro-Mediterranean Partners agreed on the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EMFTA) by the target date of 2010.
This will be achieved by means of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements negotiated and concluded between the EU and nine out of the 12 Mediterranean partners, together with free trade agreements between the partners themselves: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority.