Brussels, 19/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - A meeting of high level officials from the European Commission and member states of the Agadir Agreement will take place in Brussels on Thursday 20 September. The meeting will discuss technical exchanges related to the “South-South” free trade area project (between Mediterranean Arab countries and signatories of association agreements). The chairman of the Technical Unit (a sort of executive committee), Ferid Tounsi, will give a detailed presentation of the measures put in place since May, when the agreement, which brings together Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, came into effect. This free trade agreement was signed at a ceremony in Rabat on 25 February 2004, attended by European External Relations Commissioner at the time Chris Patten. The Agadir Agreement is the first attempt at “South-South” free trade, supported and encouraged by the EU, Brussels highlighted. European support will be in joint action on training and studies. Two sectoral studies are being carried out, focusing on textile and clothing regional integration, and on the automotive sector, using the Euro-Mediterranean cumulation of origin mechanism. Overall, the Agadir Agreement seeks to give impetus to trade and to develop the industrial fabric of the signatory countries. It also aims to support economic activity and employment and, more generally, to foster coordination of macro-economic and sectoral policies in these countries. (fb)