Algeria and the European Union last week launched the first round of talks aimed at reviving their 20-year “Partnership Agreement.”
The talks were initiated at the request of Algiers.
The Delegation of the European Union to Algeria said on Friday that a delegation headed by Florian Ermacora, head of the North Africa Unit at the Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, paid a working visit to Algeria from January 27 to 30.
The delegation met with representatives of several Algerian ministerial departments, including Foreign Affairs, Energy and Mines, Water Resources, Industry, Trade and Finance. The European officials were also received at the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency (AAPI).
In addition to the EU Neighborhood department, the delegation included representatives from the EU departments for Energy, Home Affairs, Migration and Foreign Affairs.
Discussions focused on future cooperation between the EU and Algeria in the fields of investment, trade facilitation, renewable energy, migration, culture and job creation.
During the visit, Head of the North Africa Unit, EU Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Florian Ermacora reaffirmed the EU's willingness to give new impetus to cooperation between Algeria and the European Union in the context of the development of a new pact for the Mediterranean, the EU mission said.
It noted that the visit aims to hold consultations on cooperation between the European Union and Algeria for the period 2025-2027.
The new Agenda for the Mediterranean was launched by the European Union in 2021 to strengthen the strategic partnership with its Southern Neighborhood partners in trade and renewable energies, upgrading facilities and infrastructure, and managing migration and counter-terrorism issues.
The European delegation's visit was not announced by Algerian officials.
Also, the statement issued by the EU delegation did not mention whether talks with representatives of the Algerian ministries addressed the country’s request to revise its partnership agreement with the EU and to rebalance the mutual interests of the two parties.
In late 2024, ambassador of the EU in Algeria Diego Mellado Pascua said 2025 could be a very important year for both parties to consult on their mutual relations within a comprehensive framework.
Last June, the EU said it launched a dispute settlement case against Algeria and requested consultations with Algerian authorities to address several restrictions imposed on EU exports and investments.
“The EU considers that, by imposing these trade restrictive measures since 2021, Algeria is not respecting its trade liberalization commitments under the EU-Algeria Association Agreement,” it said in a statement.
The EU’s aim is to engage constructively with Algeria with a view to removing the restrictions on several market sectors, spanning from agricultural products to motor vehicles.
These include an import licensing system with the effects of an import ban, subsidies contingent on the use of local inputs for car manufacturers, and a cap on foreign ownership for companies importing goods in Algeria.
A European diplomat in Algeria, who declined to be named, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the EU is seeking to assess Algeria's prospects and the extent to which the agreement can be modified.
He said the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat, confirms that Algeria's exports to the 27 Member States of the Union amounted to 18.747 billion euros and its imports from these countries were around 12.648 billion euros.
