EU-Morocco: fourth round of talks on free trade agreement about to start

The fourth round of negotiations of the deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) between the EU and Morocco will take place this week in Brussels. The EU hopes the discussions will be constructive in order to move towards an agreement that will mark a real turning point in the commercial relations between the EU and Morocco, according to a press release.

Morocco is the only country in the region to have started these negotiations with the EU, since March 2013. Morocco was well prepared, and has already undergone important reforms in the different domains covered by the negotiation.

The DCFTA is a logical step in the commercial relations with Morocco. The Association Agreement and the Agricultural Agreement have both included tariff removals concerning trade in goods. The DCFTA is introduced to complement this process by a deeper integration of Morocco into the European economy: non-tariff barriers are reduced, customs procedures are simplified, trade in services is liberalised, the protection of investments is guaranteed, regulations are harmonised in many domains such as public procurement, technical norms for industrial products, sanitary measures, intellectual property rights, competition, etc.