Madar (Algiers) - France announced on Friday 13 November 2026 that it would ask the European Commission to "examine" what it considers Algeria's failure to comply with its association agreement with the European Union, Reuters reported.
The association agreement "provides for the possibility of taking appropriate measures in the event of non-compliance with commitments," French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux told a news conference. "We are asking the Commission to examine immediately the conditions for their activation," he added, without specifying which commitments Algeria had allegedly failed to honour.
According to a French diplomatic source, Paris decided to send a formal request to the Commission because the situation of its companies had worsened. Two people familiar with the matter said the French Treasury's directorate general had met several French industrial sectors on 6 November to discuss the Algerian restrictions, which have not been officially announced.
Diplomats told Reuters in October that Algiers had imposed a near-total ban on French imports at the end of July and instructed officials to suspend urea shipments to France, which account for around 30% of French imports of the fertiliser input, according to diplomats and industry representatives.
In grains, Algeria, once the largest foreign buyer of French wheat, has imported no wheat from France since July 2024, according to traders, who said French offers had repeatedly been excluded from Algerian state tenders without any formal ban being announced.
The Algerian government has made no official announcement on urea exports or imports of French goods, and the Algerian embassy in Paris could not immediately be reached for comment, Reuters said.
The European Commission registered a trade barrier in June 2025 accusing Algeria of blocking imports of French agricultural and food products since August 2024. Signed in 2002 and in force since 2005, the EU-Algeria association agreement provides for a free trade area and the gradual removal of customs duties.
Relations between Paris and Algiers have come under renewed strain, even though the two countries said last year that ties had returned to normal.
