First, integration of the Maghreb would create economies of scale and boost competition, establishing a market of more than 75 million consumers – similar in size to several of the world’s most dynamic trading powers and certainly large enough to increase the region’s attractiveness to foreign investors. Second, regional integration would reduce “hub-and-spoke” effects between the EU and the Maghreb – effects that arise when a large “hub” country or region signs bilateral trade deals with several smaller countries.