Preparation of a Project Fiche and Implementation Documents for Further EC Support to the Agadir Agreement

Detailed description of the project:

The Agadir Agreement signed in 2004 by Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan is a regional agreement designed to contribute to the realisation of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EMFTA). This project was designed to assist the Agadir Technical Unit which has been established to coordinate the efforts of the four partners to achieve the objectives of this Agreement.

The global objective of this assignment was to assist the Agadir Technical Unit, representing the four Agadir partner countries and the European Commission to develop an agreed approach to a future phase of EC support for implementation of the Agadir Agreement in line with the priority defined in the Regional Indicative Programme.

The assignment involved developing an overview of objectives which can be realised during the subsequent phase of EU financial support for the Agadir process (2009 - 2012) through consultations with the partner countries (ministries of trade and key private sector representatives) EC Delegrations in the partner countries and the Agadir Technical Unit.
Based on these consultations the consultant prepared two main outputs:

• The Action Fiche in EU format, forming the basis for the Commission's decision process leading to the budget commitment of Euro 4 million.
• A draft grant agreement to be signed between the Commission and the ATU providing the basis for transfer of EU funds to the ATU, including an implementation plan providing the basis for transferring and monitoring the utilisation of the funds in line with the objectives and activities specified in the Action Fiche and the Commission Decision.

Type of services provided:

Technical assistance in:

• Trade policy, in particular regional trade integration
• EU Programme / project design and preparation
• Institutional strengthening of regional bodies
• Management and monitoring of EU funds.