Rules Of Competition In The Association And Cooperation Agreements

Competition Rules in the Agreements Concluded with the Mediterranean Partners

The first bilateral36 agreements between the EC and the Mediterranean Partners (MPs) essentially focused on the removal of some tariff and nontariff barriers and did not provide for any competition rules. 37 The insertion of such rules within the Association Agreements took a long time. It was initiated, on the one hand, with the launching of the accession process with the candidates of the Euro-Mediterranean area (Cyprus, Malta, and Turkey) and, on the other hand, with the opening of negotiations on a new generation of agreements (the "Euromed Agreements") with the other countries engaged in the Barcelona Process. This new generation of agreements now provides for competition rules. 38 Three main reasons explain this evolution.

A first reason is related to the impact of the discussions engaged in the WTO framework, as well as in other multilateral forums. As we have seen above, the link between free trade and competition policy is a very hot issue and is increasingly being discussed at the international level. 39 Not surprisingly, this issue has also penetrated the negotiation of regional trade agreements (Idot 2002). Competition rules are now an essential component of such agreements, including those involving developing countries.

A second reason lies in the accession process and the Association Agreements previously concluded with the CEECs. These agreements (the "Europe Agreements") already provided for com-

BOX 5.1: EXAMPLES OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS COMPRISING COMPETITION RULES

Central Africa

Competition law and policy is addressed quite extensively in African sub-regional agreements, which include competition rules often based on the Treaty of Rome. The 1964 Brazzaville Treaty, which established the Central African Customs and Economic Union (UDEAC), had stated that restrictive business practices (RBPs) in trade between the member states should be abolished. Two r...

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