Brussels, 02/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - A large delegation from the European Commission, headed by Tomás Duplá Del Moral, Mediterranean Director, and made up of 12 delegates from different Commission directorates general visited Algiers on 2 February. The objective of this visit was a general update of the application of the association agreement, which the country's authorities want to renegotiate or review. A press release from the EU delegation in Algiers explained that “the objective of this visit is to carry out comprehensive examination of current dossiers included in Algeria-EU relations. Subjects on the agenda include trade, investment, energy and other themes covered by the Algeria-EU association agreement”. The delegation added that “the make-up and size of this mission is not customary but is justified by the strategic importance of the themes that will be tackled by the two parties”. The Algerian foreign affairs department said that this event provided an opportunity for “an exchange of views on implementation of the roadmap” (that more or less assumes the status of an “action plan”, which Algeria is refusing to negotiate) relating to the association agreement, as well as on the deadlines planned in this respect in 2010, particularly the timetable for meetings of the Association Committee and sector sub-committees in preparation for the Association Council, which is planned next June”, explained the minister for foreign affairs.
The request for a renegotiation mooted in the different declarations by Algerian economic and political leaders coincides with a meeting arranged since the signing of the association agreement for the mid-term review. The Algerian minister for trade, El Hachemi Djaâboub, said that the rendezvous clause in the association agreement between Algeria and the EU, due to apply this year, will not be a simple formality, from the Algerian point of view. In a recent interview to an African newspaper he declared that they would have to review the document. The Algerian authorities are blowing hot and cold, torn between an opinion (particularly that of economic actors), which emphasises the negative aspects of the association agreement which entered into force in September 2005 (loss of tax revenues, obstacles to the development of their trade into the EU) and the need for European support in Algeria's attempt to join the WTO. Mr Djaâboub also pointed out that “trade is only part of the agreement. The Europeans have not respected some of the commitments made, particularly the one of helping Algeria join the WTO … the most serious aspect, however, is that most of the problems are being created by those who are supposed to be our best partners”. The Algerian minister asserted that “since the signing of the agreement, the EU has expanded and new countries are taking advantage of the agreement” without any trade-off, although normally agreements with third countries are adapted to the enlarged EU in terms negotiated between the Commission and the countries concerned.
The Algerian press reports the feeling that Algeria will be “the only one paying a heavy price for the consequences of an agreement that it recognises, on the quiet, as having negotiated badly”. “That does not look very good”, explained a senior trade leader on the subject, which testifies to a real unease. But the Algerian press is asking what would prevent Algeria from doing this, adding comments from official circles according to which “it is not very clever to sign an agreement in order to dismantle industry while at the same time talking of an overhaul for enterprise. The state of health for SMEs/SMIs is largely put down to the inappropriateness of the decision. In this case how can we even hope for a moment that by implementing this agreement we will help benefit the economy of the country? The ministry of trade is not concealing the fact that it believes that the future meetings between the two parties, including the ministry of foreign affairs, are pointless”. Next June's Association Council “will produce nothing at all; the first councils held produced absolutely nothing but just revealed problems experienced by the Europeans”. The press concludes that “there will be a significant misunderstanding between the foreign affairs ministry and that of trade”.
According to the press, what appears to be at stake is the country and its industry's ability to respond to foreign competition. This inability is highlighted elsewhere. In La Tribune newspaper of 27 January, they explained that the balance sheet for the year after joining the Arab free-trade zone (ZALE) was “negative”. “This agreement, strongly contested by the business community, has not been in favour of Algeria. In light of the figures published yesterday by the customs services, the opening up of the Algerian market to Arab trade has produced meagre results, at least for Algeria, which has not at all benefited from its entry into the ZALE. (F.B./transl.fl)