Brussels, 13/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The annual session of the EU-Morocco Association Council will be held in Brussels on 16 December. The climate will be less tense since the adoption one week ago of the fisheries agreement and recent announcements that projects will be funded.
In this serene climate, both parties will focus their attention on pursuing trade talks. Commissioner Karel De Gucht, cited by the Moroccan media, has said that Rabat and Brussels are “about to finalise” the deep and comprehensive free-trade agreement (DCFTA) begun in talks in March 2013. The Moroccan media, echoing their government, state it is a matter of a “new partnership agreement that is more extensive than the current advanced status” which seems to have “reached its limit”. The talks are “making good progress”, the commissioner states.
Imperious necessity to respect human rights (EMHRN). The civil society, speaking through the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) notes that the session is being held while Morocco is hardly beginning to implement reforms resulting from constitutional changes made in 2011. A call for vigilance is being made when there are still many failings, not only with regard to reform of the justice system but also with regard to the rights of migrants and refugees, including for vulnerable groups such as women and unaccompanied minors. The EMHRN also expresses its concern regarding the situation currently prevailing in the Western Sahara where recent events have shown unacceptable judiciary and police repression. It also denounces the abusive prosecution of the press in Morocco which is directly detrimental to the freedom of the media.
In an open letter addressed to the Moroccan and European authorities and sent upstream of the ministerial meeting, the EMHRN called for there to be a reminder on this occasion of the “imperious need to apply, in all places and in all fields, the same resolve to respect human rights”. (FB/transl.jl)