Agricultural trade and the Barcelona Process: is full liberalisation possible?

The Barcelona Process has so far avoided full inclusion of agricultural trade in the Euro‐Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EMFTA). Given the importance of agriculture in Mediterranean countries, an end to the agricultural exception would give an opportunity for the Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs) to reduce the adjustment costs of ‘reciprocity’ in bilateral trade with the European Union (EU). This paper reviews the measures that constrain the intra‐regional agricultural trade. Southern European fears of the Mediterranean integration relate to ‘North–South’ asymmetries, including imbalances of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support among the EU regions. Rural development appears to be compatible with co‐operative strategies to remove the political inertia regarding full introduction of agriculture in the Barcelona Process.