EU, Tunisia Launch Trade Talks

The EU and Tunisia launched negotiations for a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement on Tuesday in Tunis, officials confirmed, with the first round of trade talks set to begin next week. The two sides already have a Free Trade Area under a broader Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement, completed two decades ago. However, some of the benefits from negotiating a new deal, the EU says , will be to address areas such as services trade, liberalisation in agricultural goods trade, intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, public procurement, competition policy, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and investment protection. The free trade area under the existing Association Agreement, in comparison, mainly covers goods trade. The trade and investment meetings in the Tunisian capital follow up on directives adopted by the European Council in December 2011, namely to pursue such “Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements” with Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco. The proposed new agreement is aimed at boosting investment in the Mediterranean country and eradicating trade barriers in order to support Tunisia’s future development, said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström in a blog post ahead of meetings with Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid and Minister of Trade Ridha Lahouel. In a...