Brussels, 22/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Trade Ministers of the Euromed area are to meet in Marrakesh on 24 March, and one of the main topics of this fifth meeting of its kind will be the start of the liberalisation of services between EU and the countries of southern shore of the Mediterranean. As well as an agreement in principle on this opening-up of the markets, it is expected that formal negotiations between the European Commission and certain partner countries, headed by Morocco, will open very soon after this meeting. The four previous conferences took place in Brussels (2001), Toledo (2002), Palermo (2003) and Istanbul (2004). The formal agenda for the Marrakesh meeting focuses on the liberalisation of trade, services and investments, increased convergence in standards for industrial products and continued progress in the liberalisation of agricultural products, the reinforcement of the institutional and legal framework for Euromed trade, and developments in trade negotiations at the WTO. The Marrakesh conference "will provide the opportunity to give a new political shot in the arm to the economic and trade chapter of the Barcelona process. It will help to define clear guidelines for the years to come, with the objective of achieving the ambitious plan of a Euro-Mediterranean free-trade and between now and 2010", an official source stated.
It is also anticipated that talks will be centred around the "roadmap" adopted by the extraordinary Euromed summit held in Barcelona last November, which laid down the stages in the gradual liberalisation of trade, particularly in the fields of service and agriculture (including agro-industrial and fisheries products). The subject of regulatory harmonisation and regional integration are also included on the agenda of the Marrakesh conference. Initiatives aiming to shore up the institutional and legislative framework in the field of trade have been announced.