Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTAs) between the EU and selected North African countries, and their impact on agriculture, access to water and sustainability

Case Study 15: Free Trade Agreements between the EU and selected North African countries, and their impact on food systems, access to water and sustainable development

What are the impacts of EU trade agreements in North African countries, and the related risks? The focus was on the impacts of EU-North Africa trade, notably through EU FTAs, on ecological resilience, especially water scarcity in the North Africa countries.

The EU is the most important trading partner for both Egypt and Tunisia. Approximately a quarter

(25%) of Egypt’s total trade is transacted with the EU. Tunisia was one of the first countries in North Africa to sign an Association Agreement with the EU in 1995. Since then, trade with the EU has steadily increased with European markets accounting for 70.9% of Tunisia’s exports in 2022.

The benefits of this trade are not distributed evenly between both regions. Exports from North Africa to the EU are mostly extractivist exports – intensively using or exhausting land, water and other natural resources or intensively using energy and labor – with low added value. Free trade agreements have been signed between the European Union as a bloc comprising dozens of countries and North African countries individually. This approach weakens the negotiating capacity of North African countries and creates competition among them regarding the entry prices of their products into EU markets, resulting in low price levels. A key example of this is in the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement under which the EU grants Tunisia market access and duty-free privileges but only for agricultural exports that do not threaten European products, such as dates and prickly pear.

EU-Tunisia Association Agreement
EU-Tunisia Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (draft)

Sustainability standards do not have primacy in EU DCFTAs. Sustainability standards and rights in North African countries are not properly addressed in trade negotiations. There is also a lack of market support for North African economic actors, especially small-scale farmers leading to a predominance of low value-added activities with high ecological footprint. North African agriculture policies are mainly export-oriented, instead of guaranteeing food sovereignty for North African societies.

Natural resources are under severe pressure, especially water scarcity is severe in North Africa. A major problem is the uneven competition with EU producers, as agriculture in the EU is hugely subsidized. The risk of market eviction for small-scale farmers is another issue to be addressed.

Identification of research coordinator and local research collaborators
Key research questions and template developed for two country case studies
Literature review
Organisation of focus group workshop in Tunis to present and gather input on research findings and develop policy recommendations
Finalisation of country briefs
Dissemination of research findings through media pieces
Development of policy brief and advocacy roadmap
Presentation of roadmap at conferences and meetings

Examination of agri-food trade flows (trade balance and main products) between Tunisia, Egypt and the EU
Analysis of main bilateral and multilateral agreements governing agri-food trade flows between North Africa and EU
Detailed analysis of structure of olive oil (Tunisia) and potato (Egypt) value chains
Impacts of trade regime on land tenure systems, access to water, labour rights and protections, rural poverty, food security and hunger etc.