Algeria Treasury Lost $7 Billion Of Customs Revenues

Algeria and the European Union completed, at the end of last month, the assessment of their agreement for the partnership, at the time when the initial agreement led to the inclusion of 21 amendments, and the state’s treasury lost customs revenues worth 700 billion dinars (70 thousand billion centimes) any $ 7 billion, as it is likely to activate the final file of this assessment soon in Brussels.

Sources from the Trade Ministry told Echorouk that the review and evaluation of the partnership agreement with the EU, at the order of President Bouteflika in 2015, is completed and its file is likely to be approved soon, though our sources did not specify the deadlines, given that the file is the responsibility of the the Trade and Foreign Ministries, which are represented by the Directorate for Cooperation with the European Union and the International Institutions, the Directorate which have ended on December,7 of last year, the evaluation process, which was formulated in a joint document that will be ratified at a meeting of Brussels, during the meeting between the European Union and Algeria, which will be chaired by the Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra and the senior representative of the Union for Foreign Relations and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.

Partnership Agreement with the European Union, which was criticised by official parties, lead by President Bouteflika, and several political parties, is likely to know an evaluation process after the agreement was subject to review, and included 21 recommendations for reviving the partnership between Algeria and the European Union, and it includes also several measures and axes of cooperation in order to straighten the partnership agreement, and it comes to economic partnership through the EU accompaniment for the Algerian government’s efforts to diversify the economy, and promote exports outside hydrocarbons, and the development of economic expertise and the digital economy, and strengthening the global economy that takes into account the social character.

The recommendations include, according to diplomatic sources, the need to develop investment and partnerships between Algerian and European companies, and ensuring the productivity of European direct investment in Algeria.

Brussels meeting will also consider the content of another common document, concerning the priorities of the two parties regarding the European Neighborhood Policy, and the movement of people in the European space, and there will be the ratification of this document, during the meeting between the partnership managers of both the European Union and Algeria.

Evaluation of the partnership agreement between Algeria and the European Union on foreign trade, which came into force in 2005 and stopped at a re-evaluation at the end of 2015 stations, showed a set of imbalances and flaws that create criticism against it, according to our sources, and the partnership agreement that was given a big importance by Algeria to enter the European markets did not achieve any of its goals, as the process of assessment showed that exports from Algeria outside the hydrocarbons towards the Union did not exceed the value of $ 14 billion over the full ten years, while Algeria’s imports from the region exceeds $ 220 billion, at an annual rate of $ 22 billion, and it also showed that Algerian exports out of hydrocarbons to the EU countries rose from $ 597 million in 2005 to $ 2.3 billion just in 2014 before, declining to $ 1.6 billion, add to this the disappointing figures of Algeria’s treasury loss of 70 thousand billion centimes, or $ 7 billion of customs revenues.

Economic and commercial evaluation of the partnership agreement with the European Union and the 21 recommendations, will include the objectives of the Partnership Agreement and the promotion of Algerian exports outside the hydrocarbon sector towards Europe, parallel with the development of European investments in Algeria.