With a generally estimated\u00a019 countries (variable, since there is no unique classification), the Middle East area usually includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Palestine, and Yemen. North Africa includes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.<\/p>\n
The EU has thriving trade relations with the area, which, because of its proximity, benefits from\u00a0so-called “European Neighborhood Programs.” One of these is the Southern Neighborhood<\/strong>, which includes Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia.\u00a0There have been\u00a0privileged relations among the partners since 1995, with the Euro-Mediterranean collaboration, later included in the broader “Neighborhood Plan” (of which Syria has not been a part since 2004). In addition to economic cooperation, the goal is to ensure that the Southern Neighborhood is\u00a0an area of peace, stability, economic prosperity<\/strong>, upholding democratic values and human rights.<\/p>\n For the Middle East,\u00a0there is also the\u00a0Gulf Cooperation Council<\/strong> (GCC), of which Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are members, along with Qatar, which is not in MENA. The EU has cooperation agreements with the GCC, which has existed as a regional organization since 1981,\u00a0\u00a0as well as with Yemen, while it has a partnership and cooperation agreement with Iraq. Iran does not enjoy any formal agreement with the EU, just as there is no delegation in Tehran, so relations are based on maintaining the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action (JPA, Iran Nuclear Agreement) signed in Vienna in July 2015.<\/p>\n Since there is no formal list, MENA can be expanded to MENAP<\/strong> (MENA + Afghanistan and Pakistan) or MENAT (MENA + Turkey) to include countries not strictly part of the Middle East or North Africa but which have strong economic or strategic ties to these countries.<\/p>\n Trade agreements between the EU and this group of countries aim to facilitate trade and are constantly evolving and significant. Connected to these, the EU has established the European Neighborhood Policy<\/strong>, which focuses on encouraging political and economic reforms in these countries while respecting their specific characteristics and promoting cooperation within the region and with the EU (Union for the Mediterranean). In 2021, as part of the EU’s new trade policy review, the Union announced a new sustainable investment initiative for interested partners in the Southern Neighborhood and Africa.<\/p>\n With data updated to May 2024, we see that in 2021, the EU imported goods worth 166.6 billion euros\u00a0from the Southern Neighborhood countries and exported 186.9 billion euros. Trade increased the following year, with imports of more than 235.9 billion euros and exports of 227 billion, with an 8.9 billion deficit\u00a0for EU exports. 2023 closed with a surplus\u00a0of 15.2 billion euros, exports of 234.8 billion, and imports of 219.5 billion euros.<\/p>\n Trade volume here is lower, with a highly variable balance. 2021 was markedly in favor of the EU, with exports of 72.9 billion and imports of 40.6 billion. The\u00a0year after, the difference narrowed, with imports increasing to\u00a087.6 billion, plus 40 billion from the year before, and sharply lower growth in exports, totaling 87.8 billion. In 2023, the EU returns to exporting more (93.8 billion euros) and importing less (76.3 billion euros).<\/p>\n There are many Intra-regional differences. However, in aggregate, the EU counts the Middle East and North Africa as key trading partners.<\/strong><\/p>\n Fuel, mining, and chemicals accounted for most of the EU’s 29.6 billion euros of imports, while automotive, transportation, chemical, and agriculture comprised most of the 67.5 billion euros of exports. The EU ranked as the GCC’s second-largest trading partner in 2020, accounting for 12.3 percent of the GCC’s global trade in goods and 17.8 percent of imports. The EU was thus the GCC’s top import partner and the fourth largest export partner, receiving 6.9 percent of GCC exports.<\/p>\n In the last few years, the EU has increased crude oil and natural gas imports; MENA countries accounted for 18 percent of crude oil and 12.4 percent of natural gas imports in 2020. This share increased, especially after the Russia-Ukraine war when the EU increased imports from other countries to offset the\u00a0reduction in\u00a0Russian oil imports. More specifically, about 18 percent of the EU’s diesel imports came from Saudi Arabia, while 9.1 percent came from the United Arab Emirates in the third quarter of 2023.<\/p>\n This infographic from ETDP,\u00a0 the External trade data platform of the\u00a0Arab countries, gives an idea of the economic dollar value of trade in these categories of goods.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nFor countries in the Southern Neighborhood, the EU has strong trade relations<\/h5>\n
Business relations with the Gulf area<\/h5>\n
After the outbreak of war in Ukraine<\/h4>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Etdp.png\")
<\/a>As expected, oil and gas products stand out (product code 5), which had a trade value of $187.9 billion in 2022, followed to a lesser extent by industrial products such as machinery and electronic products worth\u00a0$16 billion. Basic metallurgical products and petrochemicals follow.<\/p>\n