Incoherent at Heart: The EU’s economic and migration policies towards North Africa

Abstract

Pre-pandemic, EU policies towards North Africa, especially Tunisia and Morocco, focused on two main paradigms: trade liberalization and the minimization of both regular and irregular migration. These agendas were incoherent and had overwhelmingly negative implications for the livelihoods and employment opportunities within the EU for the most vulnerable people in the Maghreb. As the coronavirus impacts continue to wreak havoc on world economies, any future negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs) ought to be geared towards supporting fair and inclusive recovery in North Africa based on reducing inequality and promoting shared prosperity and development.

The role of Europe in building system-wide resilience to cross-border climate impacts

“…However, the liberalisation of trade, driven by EU trade agreements, has entrenched an already strong asymmetry in trade. In 2018, trade with the EU represented more than 50% of the North African countries' total exports, while the same countries accounted for 1% or less of the EU's total export volumes (Oxfam 2020). At the same time, the North African region is one of the least integrated regions in the world, partly due to agricultural policies in the region up until 1997 that centred on self-sufficiency -instead of self-reliance based on…”

“…Yet, they have generally not encouraged diversification of exports and have had a limited impact on growth in North African exports to the EU, partly because they were implemented in isolation from internal socio-economic processes. For instance, they did not contribute much to Tunisian employment or to tax revenues, as the products were mostly exported from zones with minimal duties (Dadush and Myachenkova 2018;Oxfam 2020). Since 2015, the EU has been negotiating a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with Tunisia and Morocco under the ENP to advance market access and lift trade barriers (Hamadeh et al 2015;Rudloff 2020).…”

“…As a result, low-skill job losses may (in)directly lead to regular and irregular migration from North Africa to Europe. This way, the EU could unwittingly create migration incentives via the DCFTA (Oxfam 2020).…”

Climate risks in Tunisia: Challenges to adaptation in the agri-food system

“…Therefore, on the one hand, the EU's development cooperation has supported Tunisia's olive oil sector, but on the other hand, trade policies allow only for a subordinated integration into the European market. The process of the DCFTA negotiations between the EU and Tunisia should therefore create better market access for Tunisian olive oil (e.g., higher quota) and allow for the implementation of a strategic upgrading policy for the olive oil sector (Grumiller et al 2018;Oxfam 2020;FAO 2015).…”