European governments increasingly portray North Africa as a strategic partner defined by shared history, geography, and mutual interests. This narrative has gained traction in Brussels, which frequently refers to the region as a "near neighborhood." Italy, for example, promotes the Matteii Plan as a framework for enhanced North-South cooperation, while France acknowledges its reduced influence in Africa and emphasizes newer forms of engagement focused on green transition projects, infrastructure development, migration agreements, and investment initiatives. Despite these stated aims, closer analysis reveals that the underlying power dynamics between Europe and North Africa remain largely unaltered.

While European priorities have shifted from dependence on oil toward energy security via renewable sources such as hydrogen, and from direct colonial control to financial conditionality, the fundamental structure of the relationship still places Europe in a dominant, rule-making position, with North African countries as rule-takers. Trade relations exemplify this ongoing imbalance. In 2023, EU trade with Africa totaled approximately €355 billion ($404 billion), with Europe importing mainly mineral fuels and raw materials, and exporting machinery, transport equipment, and manufactured goods. This pattern reflects a persistent post-colonial model in which Africa primarily supplies raw materials and Europe exports higher-value manufactured products.

North Africa remains firmly embedded within this framework. Export openness in the region has remained steady for years—exports average near 28 percent of GDP and imports around 32 percent—though progress on industrial upgrading has been limited despite long-standing association agreements and promises of integration. European manufacturers benefit from privileged access to Maghreb markets, while North African producers often find themselves confined to lower-value sectors such as assembly work, agriculture, and commodity exports. Market access for these producers remains tightly managed to protect European competitiveness, with full access to the EU Common Market remaining unattainable.

Efforts toward regulatory alignment tend to favor European firms without meaningful reciprocity. Morocco’s suspension of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area negotiations illustrates this dynamic: harmonizing regulations without corresponding market access would impose European production standards on Moroccan companies while leaving European producers advantaged. In practice, this approach has resulted in “selective integration,” whereby Europe offers open market access to North African goods primarily in low-impact sectors, while imposing quotas, technical barriers, and seasonal restrictions that limit higher-value exports.

Agriculture highlights the disparity further. While Europe promotes Mediterranean food security partnerships, tariff quotas and technical regulations continue to restrict North African agricultural products, allowing European consumers to benefit from inexpensive imports when convenient but preventing North African producers from moving up the European supply chains.

Emerging green energy initiatives risk replicating these patterns under a veneer of sustainability. The EU’s Global Gateway, which promises around €150 billion in funding for Africa by 2027, largely consists of repackaged financing tools, guarantees, and private sector involvement, rather than significant new public investment. Major European projects claim to mark a break from historical practices but continue to prioritize European strategic interests such as securing energy supplies, managing migration, protecting supply chains, expanding markets, and limiting geopolitical rivals.

True equal partnership would require reciprocal market access, support for locally driven industrialization, domestic energy security before export commitments, financing focused on building productive capacity rather than dependency, and migration cooperation respecting national sovereignty. Instead, Europe continues to prioritize stability purchases, raw material imports, externalization of political challenges, and cooperation frameworks that preserve long-standing structural advantages. While North Africa is officially regarded as a critical “near neighborhood,” the relationship largely maintains the continent’s role as Europe’s strategically important periphery.