May 1999 - Preferential trade agreements that are limited to the elimination of tariffs for merchandise trade flows are of limited value at best and may be as easily welfare-reducing as welfare-enhancing. It is important that preferential trade agreements go beyond eliminating tariffs and quotas...

In the Mediterranean Basin two projects of economic integration overlap, namely the project of a Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) and a process of economic integration of the European Union (EU), which neighbors into EU's Internal Market; the EU endeavors to strengthen cooperation with the...

The path towards Arab and Euro-Mediterranean integration is challenging for all countries involved but the potential long term benefits are substantial. Multilateral trade initiatives which run parallel to "open" regional integration with the European Union and among Arab states can generate...

The current fiscal imbalances and fragilities in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMC) are the result of decades of instability, but have become more visible since 2008, when a combination of adverse economic and political shocks (the global and European financial crises, Arab...