Posted: November 16th, 2022

‘International Economic Relations: EU and the Middle East’

‘International Economic Relations: EU and the Middle East’ essay

Introduction
The European Union and the Middle East share international economic relations. The relations have always been pushed from the side of the EU. The EU has a greater interest in the Middle East which is motivated mainly by economic concerns. Europe import oil from the Middle East and this makes the region more significant to the EU than to the United States. The economy of Middle Eastern is also an important market for Europe exports, with the chief one being the Gulf States. Nonetheless, some negative impacts are witnessed. For example, the trans-Mediterranean commerce has portrayed a reduction partially because some of the members of EU such as Spain, France, Greece, and Italy have neglected the south due to the north and east orientation.
The EU is an economic bloc, and it has the tendency of viewing the rest of the world through the same perception. Regrettably, the Middle East is not a unified bloc due to regional conflict and minimal intraregional trade. The EU has not given up on this and all its attempts are to bring the Middle East together to operate as a bloc. The EU has initiated some partnership with the Middle East for the purpose of enhancing economic aspects in the region. This paper thus explores the international economic relations between the EU and the Middle East through the existing partnership between the two regions.
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership
The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) consists of the EU member states and twelve Mediterranean countries which include Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Malta, Cyprus, Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Israel. The partnership is aimed at strengthening north to south relations. Moreover, EU is aiming at nurturing the relationship within the South itself though it is not yet achieved. The EU is putting a lot of effort to ensure that the Mediterranean countries realize the opportunities and ventures that exist within the neighboring state and the EMP is providing incentive packages for these countries to pursue the trans-Mediterranean undertakings. The EU dedicated a lot of its external resources to Eastern and Central Europe at the beginning of the 1990s. In a similar way, the EU is now focusing on the utilization of the EMP as a means of conducting the outreach program towards the Middle East to spur cooperative relations in the region. The Euro-Mediterranean is based on three principles.
i. Partnership in political and security partnership with the objective of founding a common area of stability and peace;
ii. Partnership in economic and financial with the purpose of creating a region of shared prosperity;
iii. And cultural and human affairs partnership in an effort of promoting understanding between cultures and exchanges among civil societies.
The Barcelona Declaration focuses on the strategic essential of Mediterranean and is based on the concept that future Euro-Mediterranean relations would be on the elaborate cooperation and solidarity. This will help in keeping with the privileged nature of the links that are realized through history and neighborhood. The partnership also underlines the awareness of the aspects of new political, social and economic issues on both sides of the Mediterranean that contribute to common challenges which can only be overcome through coordinated overall response. Due to this challenges that need to be faced together, the EMP was founded to act as a framework of relations under the guidance of partnership. The partnership embraces values and distinguishing features for each and every participant.
There is also commitment to the partnership of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation that aims at combating and preventing the act of terrorism. The prevention of terrorism is realizable through the ratification and application of the international instruments that the partners have signed. The partnership is devoting time effort and time to fight as a single unit against the diversification and expansion of the organized crimes. In regards to the economic and financial partnership, the members are emphasizing on the significance they attach to balanced and sustainable economic and social development with the purpose of creating a region with a shared prosperity. The members of the partnership have always promised to continue dialoguing to get to the best ways forward for attaining the progress.
EU–MENA Trade
In the 1960s, the European community started finalizing the first generation CAs with the Mediterranean partners. The early 1990s, the Europeans had already signed many CAs with most of the Arab states and all non-Arab countries in both the eastern and southern Mediterranean. It was an essential step towards achieving the free trade. In the 1970s and 1980s, the bilateral policy CAs dealt considerably with the with trade liberalization. Despite the rise in commerce in the MENA region and Europe, the balance trade with the EU deteriorated under the CAs. The deterioration called for AAs negotiations. The provisions of the Euro-Mediterranean AAs governing the relations have witnessed the diversity among the Mediterranean partners. The variation is captured in terms of time and more areas of cooperation. Nonetheless, some common economic aspects in the region have resulted from AAs. They include the establishment of WTO-compatible free trade and economic cooperation in several sectors.
The EU main agenda in the region is to foster economic policy harmonization and intraregional trade. The EU has then opted to offer support to the Agadir agreement as the commencement of a regional free trade area that targets more than the removal of quotas and tariffs. The Agadir is founded on the concept of the realization of the trade integration through core countries. Other countries would find easy to join once the foundation is laid. The EU has established the pan-European rules of origin. The development of these rules is crucial among the members of MENA. The MENA members are in a position to export to Europe provided they adhere among themselves to the same rules that led to the inception of EU.
The Euro-Med Trade Ministers initiated the extension of the pan-European system that led to the formation EU to the Mediterranean members; which aimed at the revival of the economic and trade cooperation among the Barcelona members and other European nations. It is from this initiation that led to the formation of the Agadir Agreement. The pan-Euro-Med protocol of rule of origin was established in a working group with every member countries concerned. The move was later endorsed in 2003 in Euro-Med Trade Ministerial Meeting held in Palermo. Agadir Agreement would play a role in the step of replacing the protocols of origin with those of the pan-Euro-Mediterranean protocols. The EU has devoted effort and time in laying a foundation that will make the East prosper if the region comes together and form a bloc.
European Neighborhood Policy
European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) is an essential tool for promoting peace, stability, and security to the European Union’s neighbors of the southern and eastern. The neighbors that are under this policy include Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Caucasus. The policy has the objective of sharing the EU’s benefits with the neighbors since 2004 when EU to involves neighboring countries for the purpose of enhancing stability, economic promotion and security to the neighboring countries. The policy is intended to prevent the emergence of division lines within the enlarged and European Union and the neighboring countries. The EU is offering and opportunity for participation to the bordering countries through participating in the EU activities with the aim of realizing the stable politics, enhancing cultural and economic integrations, and boosting security. It is significant to note that the European Union is not granting membership to the bordering countries. However, the EU is allowing these countries to share some of the benefits of the EU without being a full member. Hence, with all the aspects coverage of this policy, it is evident that the policy is elaborate and inclusive.
Conclusion
To sum up, international economic relations exist between the EU and the Middle East. The Middle East produces oil and that gives its economic value. The EU has laid down strategies through the formation of partnerships such as European Neighborhood Policy, EU–MENA Trade, and Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The partnerships are intended for boosting the economy of the Middle East. There is progress due to the formation of the Agreement like Agadir Agreement. Therefore, it is deducible that the two regions need each other and with time better conditions of operations would be achieved.

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