Development by Free Trade? / Developpement a Travers Le Libre-Echange ?

One year ago the negotiations between Tunisia and the European Union about a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) had started in Tunis. Experts from both sides of the Mediterranean accepted to contribute to this book in order to foster the public debate in the North-African countries by informing actors of the civil society about the risks of this new generation of free trade agreements of the EU for the respective countries and their population. In fact, by analyzing the impact of the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria since the late 1980s followed up by the EU's free trade policy, the authors seriously doubt about the positive effects on development and prosperity promised by the promotors of free trade. They underline, on the contrary, that it is the EU which profits from the asymmetric power-relations in order to pursue its economic and especially its security interests related to "illegal migration."

Publie un an apres le debut des negociations sur l'Accord de libre echange complet et approfondi (ALECA) entre la Tunisie et l'Union europeenne, cet ouvrage veut contribuer au debat public dans les pays concernes et alerter les acteurs de la societe civile sur les risques que comporte cette nouvelle generation des accords de libre-echange de l'UE. Les experts nord-africains et europeens reunis pour debattre des enjeux de la politique economique de l'UE vis-a-vis des pays de l'Afrique du Nord mettent serieusement en cause la promesse de developpement et de prosperite du libre-echange. Analysant l'impact de cette politique entamee par la Banque mondiale et le FMI depuis les annees 1980 en Tunisie, en Algerie et au Maroc et poursuivie par l'UE, ils soulignent au contraire que l'UE profite de l'asymetrie des relations de pouvoir pour poursuivre ses interets economiques et securitaires lies a la migration illegale .