France asks European Commission to look into Algeria trade issues

France will ask the European Commission to assess what it says is Algeria's non-compliance with its association agreement with the EU, following assertions that its former colony is pursuing an unofficial boycott of French companies. The ‌EU Association agreement "stipulates the possibility to take appropriate measures for the non-respect of commitments," France's Foreign ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux told a news conference.

"We ask the Commission to examine immediately the conditions for their activation," he added, without detailing what commitments Algeria was said to have failed to uphold. A French diplomatic source said Paris had ‌decided to make a formal request to the commission because the situation for its firms was worsening.

Two people aware of the matter said France's ‌Treasury Department had held a meeting on November 6 with different French industries to discuss the Algerian restrictions, which have not been announced by the country. Diplomats told Reuters in October that Algiers had in late July imposed a near-blanket ban on French imports and had issued an instruction to officials to suspend urea shipments to France.

Ties between Paris and Algiers, which have ⁠been complicated for ​decades, deteriorated in 2024 when French ⁠President Emmanuel Macron backed a plan for autonomy for the Western Sahara region under Moroccan sovereignty. Algeria backs the Polisario Front in Western Sahara which has been seeking a separate state since the ⁠departure of former colonial power Spain in 1976.

France and Algeria declared last year that the relationship was back to normal, but the ties have since soured again. WHEAT AND ​UREA ARE KEY SECTORS FOR PARIS

The halt to urea exports emerged last month, putting at risk Algerian supplies that account for around 30% ⁠of French urea imports, diplomats and industry officials have said. In grains, Algeria, once the biggest overseas buyer of French wheat, has not imported any wheat from France since July 2024, with traders ⁠saying ​French supplies have repeatedly been excluded from Algerian state tenders without a formal ban being announced.

As with previous trade restrictions, there has been no formal announcement by the Algerian government regarding either urea exports or imports of French goods, the diplomatic and industry officials said. Algeria's embassy in Paris was not immediately ⁠available for comment.

The European Commission already registered a trade barrier in June 2025 alleging that Algeria has been blocking imports of French agricultural and food products ⁠since August 2024 by delaying or failing ⁠to issue required import authorisations. That complaint, on the commission's website updated in March 2026, focuses in particular on dairy products, with French exporters facing difficulties obtaining sanitary import waivers needed to sell milk and dairy goods in Algeria.

It ‌says the approval process ‌lacks clear deadlines and has been used to restrict trade.