The European Union-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EU-MED FTA, EMFTA), also called the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area or Euromed FTA, is based on the Barcelona Process and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The Barcelona Process, developed after the Barcelona Conference in successive annual meetings, is a set of goals designed to lead to a free trade area in the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East by 2010. A Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential Rules of Origin was signed in June 2011 to allow identical rules of origin across the region. The convention was in force from May 2012 and is the last step taken in the Barcelona Process so far. History The Agadir Agreement of 2004 (FTA between Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt) is seen as its first building block. Further steps are envisioned into the ENP Action plans negotiated between the European Union and the partner states on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, mostly with Arab League member states. The initial aim is to create a matrix of Free Trade Agreements between each of the partners and the others. Then a single free trade area is to be formed, including the European Union. Partners European Union Morocco (member of the Arab League and the Arab Maghreb Union) Algeria (member of the Arab League and the Arab Maghreb Union) Tunisia (member of the Arab League and the Arab Maghreb Union) Egypt (member of the Arab League) Jordan (member of the Arab League) Lebanon (member of the Arab League) Israel Palestinian National Authority (Member of the Arab League) Turkey Prospective partners Syria (Member of the Arab League) Libya (member of the Arab League and the Arab Maghreb Union) Gulf Cooperation Council Iraq (Member of the Arab League) Mauritania (member of the Arab League and the Arab Maghreb Union) FTA Progress See also African Economic Community Economic integration EUR.1 movement certificate List of free trade agreements List of trade blocs Middle East economic integration Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Union for the Mediterranean US-Middle East Free Trade Area (US-MEFTA) References External links General overviews Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements, Summaries of EU Legislation, EU website, 2007. Consulted 4 September 2010. System of Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Cumulation, European Commission Taxation and Customs Union page. Consulted 4 September 2010. Euro-Med free trade area: the benefits of cumulation, EFTA Bulletin, Switzerland, July–August 2006. Consulted 4 September 2010. More specific studies European Union–Developing Country FTAs: Overview and Analysis, by JOSEPH