EU chief negotiator : DCFTA negotiations will focus on services

''The negotiations will focus particularly on the services sector, the only major economic area that is not covered by existing agreements between the EU and Morocco,'' said the chief negotiator of the EU in a statement to MAP at the end of a workshop Tuesday at the European Parliament in Brussels on the new generation of free trade agreements that the EU intends to conclude with Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt.

The deep and comprehensive free trade agreements to be concluded with these four countries will be different from each other because each country will choose, according to its priorities, the sectors to be covered by the agreement, he said, noting that for the case of Morocco, negotiations will focus on services as well as all regulatory issues in the field of business, including intellectual property, competition policy, investment and technical barriers to trade.

The Director-General for Trade at the European Commission also noted that negotiations with Morocco on DCFTA were very well prepared on both sides and are on track, adding that the Kingdom is the first country in the South Mediterranean with which the EU has initiated negotiations on such an agreement.

The first round of negotiations which was held in April in Rabat was prepared for through in-depth discussions, said Mr. Garcia Bercero, announcing that during the second round, to be held next week in Brussels, the negotiators on both sides will discuss various topics including non-tariff barriers to trade, standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures.