How Deep is the European Union’s Economic and Political Cooperation with Algeria? The Impact of the European Agreements

Year 2021, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 151 - 169, 30.03.2021

Dilara Sülün

https://doi.org/10.15869/itobiad.805415

Abstract

This paper examines the background of the economic and political ties between Algeria and the European Union (EU) and the tools that the EU uses. The EU-Algeria economic and political history is quite important to analyse as it is founded on important historical and colonial aspects with France, which is one of the founder countries of the EU. Within this context, the relations of Algeria with the EU have not been easy and have even been turbulent from time to time. EU’s cooperation with Algeria are five folded: The ‘Association Agreement’, the ‘Euro-Mediterranean Partnership’, ‘EU Neighbourhood Policy’, ‘Union for the Mediterranean’ and the ‘EU-Algeria Free Trade Agreement’. This study explores the tools used by the EU to forge a deeper and wider cooperation with Algeria and assesses the bilateral trade and investment status and the current political and economic problems. Our paper explores current and new cooperation opportunities, analyses trade and investment statistics, uses literature review with primary and secondary researches. EU reports and international documents are evaluated from a commercial and political perspective. Politically, we can say that the EU is longing for more cooperation from Algeria, especially on migration and security issues. Economically, we can say that the FTA is currently benefitting more the EU than Algeria’ because Algerian foreign trade balance is in deficit, the country imports more than it exports. Regarding foreign direct investments, we find economic engagement of not only European but also American investments in Algeria, especially regarding oil and gas exploring and production activities. We finally conclude our study with the recommendation of shifting towards a wider variety of economic activities for Algeria, so that it can obtain a more sustainable and balanced economic revenues

Keywords

European Union, Algeria, Free Trade Agreement, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, EU Neighbourhood Policy, Union for the Mediterranean

Avrupa Birliği’nin Cezayir ile Ekonomik ve Siyasi İş Birliği Ne Kadar Derindir? Avrupa Antlaşmalarının Etkisi

Abstract

Bu makale, Cezayir ile Avrupa Birliği (AB) arasındaki ekonomik ve siyasi ilişkilerin arka planını ve AB'nin kullandığı araçları incelemektedir. Cezayir’in AB'nin kurucu ülkelerinden Fransa ile olan tarihi ve sömürge yönlerine dayalı bir geçmişi olması nedeniyle AB ile Cezayir arasındaki ekonomik ve siyasi tarihinin incelenmesi oldukça önemlidir. Bu bağlamda, Cezayir'in AB ile ilişkileri kolay olmamış hatta zaman zaman çalkantılı olmuştur. AB’nin Cezayir ile iş birliği beş aşamalıdır: ‘Ortaklık Antlaşması’, ‘Avrupa-Akdeniz Ortaklığı’, ‘AB Komşuluk Politikası’, ‘Akdeniz için Birlik’ ve ‘AB-Cezayir Serbest Ticaret Anlaşması’. Bu çalışma, AB'nin, Cezayir ile daha derin ve geniş bir iş birliği oluşturmak için kullandığı araçları araştırmaktadır ve ikili ticaret ve yatırım durumu ile birlikte mevcut siyasi ve ekonomik sorunları değerlendirmektedir. Makalemiz mevcut ve yeni iş birliği fırsatlarını araştırmakta, ticaret ve yatırım istatistiklerini analiz etmekte, araştırmada literatür tarama yöntemi kullanılmış olup birincil ve ikincil kaynaklardan yararlanılmıştır. AB raporları ve uluslararası belgeler ticari ve siyasi açıdan değerlendirilmektedir. Siyasi olarak, AB'nin Cezayir'den özellikle göç ve güvenlik konularında daha fazla iş birliği talep ettiğini söyleyebiliriz. Ekonomik açıdan ise Serbest Ticaret Antlaşması’nın hali hazırda Cezayir'den çok AB'ye fayda sağladığı tartışılabilir, zira Cezayir dış ticaret açığı veren bir ülke konumundadır; ülke ihracatından çok ithalat yapmaktadır. Yabancı yatırımlar açısından ise ülkede sadece Avrupalı değil, aynı zamanda Amerikan yatırımlarının da özellikle petrol ve gaz arama ve üretim faaliyetleriyle ilgili ekonomik varlığı dikkat çekmektedir. Son olarak, Cezayir'in daha dengeli ve sürdürülebilir ekonomik gelir elde edebilmesi için daha geniş bir ekonomik faaliyet çeşitliliğine geçmesi tavsiyesi ile çalışmamız sonuçlandırılmaktadır.

Keywords

Avrupa Birliği, Cezayir, Serbest Ticaret Antlaşması, Avrupa-Akdeniz Ortaklığı, AB Komşuluk Politikası, Akdeniz için Birlik

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