Effectiveness and Potential of European Trade and Assistance Policies in the South Mediterranean Neighbourhood in the Fields of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development

MEDRESET Work Package 5 (WP5) aims at evaluating the effectiveness and potential of EU trade and assistance policies in the area of agriculture and water (including trade liberalization, EU-funded agro-food and water projects and cooperation initiatives) in light of different bottom-up actors’ interests, needs and expectations on both shores of the Mediterranean, with the purpose of identifying inclusive, responsive and flexible policy actions to reinvigorate Euro-Mediterranean relations. The paper first reviews challenges and opportunities of agriculture, food security and rural development in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries. It continues by outlining national development plans, past EU projects and prevalent perceptions among stakeholders. It then surveys related European assistance programmes, their synergies and policy agendas. Finally, it discusses the methodological approaches that have been chosen for the fieldwork in the four case studies of the MEDRESET project (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon). It concludes by giving an overview of local stakeholders outlined in a separate, more comprehensive stakeholder map.