Brussels, 03/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU has confirmed that the first EU-Morocco summit will take place in Granada (Spain) on 6 and 7 March 2010, despite the fact that the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, will not be able to attend. The summit will take place under the aegis of the prime minister of Spain and the prime minster of Morocco. No further information has been made available to date. The Spanish prime minister, José Luis Zapatero, is quoted by Europapress as saying that it would have been “unusual” for the Moroccan monarch to attend because he is not in the habit of attending summits, usually sending the prime minister instead.
The summit is not expected to result in any tangible outcomes but is highly significant politically to back Morocco's moves to be a model country in North Africa and its hopes to win greater financial backing. Spain is anxious to achieve results in terms of both the EU and Spanish-Moroccan relations given the intensity of the ties between the two neighbouring kingdoms.
Discussions have been held at various levels, like during a special visit to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, by the Spanish foreign minister on 25 February 2010 to decide on areas to be covered by a joint statement to be issued after the Granada summit. The foreign minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, told Moroccan reporters after his meeting with Morocco's foreign minister, Taib Fassi Fihri, that the two politicians had discussed the upcoming EU-Moroccan summit and the expected outcome. He added that the summit would provide an opportunity to turn Morocco's “advanced status” in its relations with the EU into a “stronger and more effective” political partnership. He is quoted by Moroccan press agency MAP as saying that the summit would provide an opportunity to examine economic and social issues in connection with Moroccan reforms and build closer ties with the EU. He added that the summit would breathe new life into relations between the EU and Morocco, describing the country as a “great friend and strategic partner of the EU” following the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty.
Western Sahara will be one issue on the agenda. MAP reports Moratinos as saying that the United Nations secretary general's personal envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, had commented after the second series of informal talks on Western Sahara (in New York on 10 and 11 February 2010) that serious and constructive dialogue needed to continue in order to reach a negotiated solution. Madrid is also urging Rabat to renew dialogue with Polisario, the Western Saharan Liberation Front.
Most of the subjects on the agenda are related to Morocco's special relations or privileges in relations with the EU given Morocco's preference for bilateral cooperation rather than EuroMed cooperation across the region.
Morocco was granted “advanced status” in October 2008, and the details of this are now being designed. The EU's ambassador to Morocco, Eneko Landaburu, is quoted by Moroccan newspaper L'Économiste as saying at a press conference a fortnight ago that the next few years will be decisive and any progress made would flesh out the 'advanced status'. He said that the objectives for the year 2010 have already been set and work would focus on supporting farming, clean-ups, water and sustainable development. Morocco has made significant progress in several areas, he explained, and therefore should not expect a flood of new money. Against the backdrop of the economic crisis, Landaburu said that EU member states had to tighten their belts to reduce their deficits. Financial budgets were decided by the European Commission for the period up to 2013, he added, saying that Morocco should not count on receiving any more aid than in the past. Landaburu went on to explain that the EU and Morocco should start discussing issues that have been on the back burner for a while now, like ratification of the agreement on trade in farm products (expected in the first six months of this year under the Spanish Presidency of the EU) and opening formal talks on services. The entire process needs to be revised because it is lengthy, not achieving the desired results and it will take several years yet to examine one sector at a time. The process will be the subject of a special meeting between the Moroccan foreign trade minister and the EU trade commissioner. Basically, little has changed since Morocco was granted “advanced status”. Landaburu said the Moroccan government must come up with a regulatory convergence programme and the EU was there to help progress to be made in this connection to achieve the aims of having “advanced status”. (F.B./transl.fl)