After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western European countries actively sought to turn the southern coast of the Mediterranean into their own sphere of influence, continuing, as before, to exploit the states on the African and Asian shores.
Mohammed Amer
Despite many statements about equal cooperation and harmony of interests between the North and the South, as well as dozens of books and thousands of articles designed to conceal the true motives, the main driving force behind the EU remained greed. The European Union sought to subordinate the Mediterranean countries to its own interests to continue exploiting their resources and using cheap labor.
These promises remained only on paper, and today, the inhabitants of the European Union are suffering from heat waves coming from Africa, thanks to the selfishness of their own politicians
Contemporary initiatives concerning this region confirm that European interests have barely changed. Energy security has gradually supplanted dependence on oil, curbing migration has become as strategically important as military presence once was, and financial mechanisms are gradually replacing direct political control. As Arab News noted on July 25, “Neocolonial paternalism may have seemingly vanished, but the architecture governing the relations still places Brussels in the position of rule-maker and North Africa in the position of rule-taker.”
This is particularly evident in trade. In 2024, trade between the EU and Africa exceeded €355 billion; European imports amounted to about €190 billion, while exports were just over €165 billion. At the same time, the structure of goods is far more important than their total volume. More than half of European imports consist of mineral fuels and raw materials, whereas over a third of exports to the southern countries are machinery, transport equipment, and industrial goods. This pattern of exchange has survived surprisingly well since decolonization: Africa exports resources, Europe exports high-value-added goods.
European manufacturers gain privileged access to regional consumers, while North African producers remain constrained by low-skilled assembly work, agricultural quotas, and commodity production. Market access is still carefully calibrated to preserve Europe’s competitiveness, and full participation in the EU market always remains out of reach (Moroccans even suspended negotiations on a comprehensive free trade area, realizing that harmonizing rules without corresponding market access would impose unfavorable standards on Moroccan firms).
An Unequal Exchange
Western European countries use every possible means to maintain access to North African markets, while at the same time restricting the freedom of Maghreb companies through quotas, burdensome requirements, and complex regulatory barriers. In other words, behind the endless rhetoric about partnership lies a harsh restriction on agricultural exports from North Africa and the imposition of unfavorable conditions for competitive struggle.
A clear example is Italy, which is loudly promoting the allocation of €5.5 billion for various North African projects, while the Italian energy giant Eni alone plans to invest €26 billion over four years in energy projects in Egypt, Libya, and Algeria.
Virtually every European initiative revolves around the usual priorities, including ensuring energy security, reducing migration, protecting supply chains, expanding markets, and limiting geopolitical competition. At the same time, the old imperialist principle of divide and conquer is clearly maintained.
EU states have successfully torpedoed the unification of the Arab Maghreb Union. Today, they actively encourage the continuation of the conflict between Algeria and Morocco. For example, discussions are currently underway regarding gas pipeline projects from Nigeria to the Mediterranean. The first, stretching 4,000 km, would directly connect Nigeria with Algeria – 1,000km through Nigerian territory, 800 km through Niger, and 2,300 km through Algeria. Its preliminary cost is estimated at $10–12 billion. Meanwhile, many Western media outlets are heavily promoting another pipeline, namely Nigeria–Morocco, which would pass through 13 countries along Africa’s western coast. This project is presented as a crucial corridor linking Europe, Africa, and the Atlantic basin. It is underscored that American companies are also interested in financing this project, although preliminary estimates put the pipeline’s cost at €25 billion and its length at 6,900 km, combining both offshore and onshore sections. The emphasis is placed on the fact that many African countries would benefit from the pipeline’s economic impact.
France – a former colonial power – continues to play on the disagreements between Morocco and Algeria. In 2024, President Macron endorsed Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara and called Morocco’s autonomy proposal the basis for a resolution. This decision helped end a prolonged period of tension between Paris and Rabat but immediately provoked a crisis in relations with Algeria, which recalled its ambassador. France’s relations with Algeria had already been overshadowed by disputes over colonial history, migration, and security.
The current massive wildfires in Italy and France, which have injured dozens and forced nearly 300,000 people to evacuate, are the most telling example of the European Union’s greed. In the late 1990s, EU figures talked a big game about new, wonderful cooperative relations and mutual understanding with the countries of the southern Mediterranean coast. Among their many promises was the idea of creating a forest belt in North Africa to limit the impact of dry winds on the European continent’s climate. These promises remained only on paper, and today, the inhabitants of the European Union are suffering from heat waves coming from Africa, thanks to the selfishness of their own politicians.
Mohammed Amer, Syrian publicist, expert on current issues of global and regional politics
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