Following today’s launch of negotiations between the EU and Morocco for a ‘Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area’ (DCFTA), Vice-President of the European Parliament’s International Trade committee, Cristiana Muscardini MEP said:

Following today’s launch of negotiations between the EU and Morocco for a ‘Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area’ (DCFTA), Vice-President of the European Parliament’s International Trade committee, Cristiana Muscardini MEP said:

“After 13 years of a partnership agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco, we finally launch negotiations for a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) able to open EU markets to Africa.

“It is the first such agreement that is being negotiated with the Euromed countries, a strategic tool to intensify relations with Europe and to respond, through growth, to the political crisis hitting neighbours’ countries.

“I am sure that the Euro-med region will indirectly benefit from the effects of such an agreement. It represents a clear opportunity for the Union to promote development, better social standards, and to support local small and medium sized enterprises, today representing an informal sector in Africa, in their production and trade across the Europe.” – stated the European Conservatives and Reformists Member from Italy.