Towards EU-MENA Shared Prosperity

With a strong conviction that fruitful policy dialogue should be primarily anchored in sound policy research, Bruegel and PCNS researchers have tackled issues of utmost importance to all shores of the Mediterranean basin through their papers. In the first paper, Uri Dadush and Yana Myachenkova explain how trade agreements that the European Union has with North African countries are often seen as having delivered disappointing results, and how the agreements have been judged too harshly, as they helped generate large amounts of trade. In this regard, the paper gives relevant recommendations of policies for a greater trade performance. The second paper highlights the role of structural economic transformation as a necessary gateway for nations wishing to move up along the development path. It focuses on the case of Morocco, shedding light on its manufacturing sector’s transformation, its integration in Global Value Chains (GVC) and its economic challenges. In “The EU-Southern Mediterranean Energy Relationship: A Fresh Perspective”, Simone Tagliapietra analyses how regional energy cooperation should strongly focus on fostering large-scale deployment of renewable energy, allowing southern Mediterranean countries to meet their increasing energy demand in a more sustainable way, and having positive economic and political benefits for Europe.