Brussels, 04/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Friday 4 October that it intends to relax procedures for the issue of short-stay visas for Moroccan nationals and is ready to begin negotiations with Morocco. Morocco is committed to restructuring its migration policy which makes access to European Union territory difficult.
In a press release published on Friday, the Commission says that it has put a proposal to the Council to open negotiations on this issue. “This is a very concrete and important step in the cooperation between the EU and Morocco. Easier access to visas will reinforce the social and economic development and mutual understanding between our countries and people”, said Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.
She welcomed the new Moroccan measures. They are, she said, “yet another positive signal for our cooperation” and she hailed “the far-reaching recommendations contained in the recent report of the National Human Rights Council in Morocco to transform Morocco's policies and practices on migration and asylum to be fairer and in full respect of human rights”. She welcomed this step and says she stands “ready to support the effective implementation of this report's recommendations”. The EU-Morocco Mobility Partnership, was signed in June this year and its implementation is currently on-going. It is in this context that the Commission now proposes to open negotiations for facilitating the issuing of short-stay visas to Moroccan citizens. In her press release, Malmström does not speak of any requirement to sign a readmission agreement, a proposal on which Morocco had expressed reservations.
In 2012, 322,094 Schengen visas were issued by the consulates of Schengen member countries in Morocco. This makes Morocco seventh in the world in terms of the number of Schengen visas issued. The visa facilitation negotiations with Morocco will start once the Council gives the Commission the necessary mandate. (FB/transl.fl)