Publication

This paper examines the extent to which the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs) that the EU established with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia can act as a template for similar agreements with Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. The author contends that, in general, there are significant political and economic differences between these two groups of states, meaning that the DCFTAs for the Eastern European countries cannot provide appropriate templates for negotiations with the Mediterranean countries. However, he also argues that the EU can still draw important lessons from the 'Eastern' DCFTAs for the Mediterranean negotiations, including the suggestion that the Union should ensure that that legislative commitments of the agreements are sufficiently well defined and not too overly-ambitious.