Publications /
Research Paper

Back
Has Morocco Benefited from the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union?
February 19, 2020

Since the free trade agreement (FTA) between Morocco and the European Union (EU) came into force nearly two decades ago, Morocco’s export performance on EU markets has been less than stellar and the trade deficit with the EU has surged. This has led many observers to take a negative view of the agreement. Yet, bilateral trade balances are not the best way to assess the effects of a trade agreement, and Morocco has derived major benefits in other ways. As they progress on negotiations towards a more comprehensive and deeper relationship, both Morocco and the EU have much work to do to make the agreement work even better for Moroccans. This Policy Paper presents an assessment of the EU-Morocco FTA and outlines some policy implications, focusing not only on trade flows between the two partners, but also on Foreign Direct Investment, regional integration, and the impact on Moroccan importers and consumers.

RELATED CONTENT

  • May 26, 2020
    يتطابق القرن الواحد والعشرين مع "المرحلة القصوى" للعولمة عبر كل أبعادها في مجالات الإنتاج والتبادل والتكنولوجيا والثقافة. ومع تقدمها السريع أصبحت العولمة أكثر "تعقيدا" ومحملة بكثير من "اللايقين". هكذا أصبح الغير متوقع السمة الغالبة للتطورات الجيوسياسية والاقتصادية في عهدنا. لقد عرف العالم منذ بداية القرن، أي خلال عشرين سنة فقط ثلاثة هزات قوية وغير متوقعة. أولها تمثل في حدث جيوسياسي غير مسبوق عبر اعتداءات 11 شتنبر 2001 التي ضربت مدينة نيويورك، والثانية تمثلت في الأزمة الاقتصادية لس ...
  • May 23, 2020
    Par ces temps de Coronavirus, l’éducation, au Maroc, comme partout ailleurs à travers le monde, est amenée à se tourner vers des alternatives à distance. Certains voient en ce changement un risque de creusement des inégalités déjà existantes en matière d’accès, de qualité et de rétention. D’autres, saisissent cette nouvelle expérience pour ouvrir les voies de l’innovation et de la massification d’une éducation de qualité pour tous. Or, ces opportunités offertes, et ses souhaits expr ...
  • Authors
    Kwamboka Kiangoi
    May 22, 2020
    For Africa, this new decade began full of promise to achieve the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and on its way to realising the goals and priorities of Agenda 2063. With the entry of the intra-African trade from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, which comes into effect on July 1st 2020, an estimated combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than US$3.4 trillion expected to trickle in the Continent. This revenue estimation is good ne ...
  • Authors
    May 22, 2020
    On February 3, 2003, Colin Powell, U.S. President George Bush’s Secretary of State, informed the United Nations Security Council about secret information collected by the U.S. about Iraq’s weapons of mass destructions. “Every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions,” he said. There was “no doubt in my mind” that Saddam Hussein had a nuclear weapons program, and the invasion of Iraq was urgent and justified, because “the gravity of this ...
  • May 22, 2020
    The COVID-19 pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to the international community and is due to heavily impact the global economy in the short and long run. The virus has infected over 4 million people and caused almost 300.000 casualties globally. During its spreading, mass productio...
  • Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    May 22, 2020
    He is a young man like no other. One can spot him easily in a crowd by the way he dresses and addresses the issues with which he is concerned. Leonardo Párraga, an award-winning social entrepreneur and alternative education activist, was born in Colombia with the soul of an artist. He writes poetry, engages with photography, and finds inspiration in the writings of Walt Whitman, whom he describes as the poet of “interconnectedness”. At 25, he left Bogotá for Harvard University, for ...
  • Authors
    May 22, 2020
    This paper takes a comparative look at Sudan, Morocco, and Algeria, at the rise of Nubian and Amazigh rights groups, and their attempts to redefine national identity. We examine: 1/ how Nubian rights groups have sparked what is being called a Kushite revival in Sudan, and are pushing for a change in educational policy and archaeological practice to engender a new historiography and national narrative; 2/ how Amazigh movements in Morocco and Algeria are similarly trying to expand con ...
  • Authors
    May 21, 2020
    S'il y a un point positif dans cette pandémie de COVID-19, c'est la prise de conscience de l'importance de ce qui nous est le plus cher : la sécurité alimentaire et les fondements de l'espoir. Sécurité alimentaire : Ceux d'entre nous qui jouissent de la sécurité alimentaire réalisent à quel point nous dépendons de chaque maillon de la chaîne agroalimentaire. Pour les citadins, un des premiers signes que cette chaîne est rompue est la présence de rayons vides - pénurie d'approvisio ...