Economic Relations between the European Community and Mediterranean Countries

Abstract

The Mediterranean basin forms a fairly well-defined trading area. For most of history the trading routes of the areas bordering the sea have been concentrated within the Mediterranean basin. In three directions natural obstacles have limited trading opportunities: desert lies to the south and east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Only to the north are there no major natural barriers. As Europe developed economically, the trade of the non-European Mediterranean countries flowed increasingly to the north, in particular to the more developed western part of Europe, while the trade of European Mediterranean countries flowed towards other European countries. This process has continued and, since World War II, the western orientation has been accentuated by the relative autarky of the Comecon countries. Meanwhile the slower economic development of the Mediterranean countries themselves prior to World War II limited the scale of trade within the Mediterranean region. Thus, although the area has a geographical unity and a long tradition of trading internally, the European Community is, in 1984, the major market for Mediterranean exports and the major source of the imports of Mediterranean countries.