Brussels, 12/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - Morocco is an “indispensable strategic neighbour of Europe”, said European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, visiting Morocco on 11 and 12 December. This is all the more so as Morocco alone, according to the commissioner, avoided the upheavals that have affected the countries of the southern rim of the Mediterranean. These countries “are experiencing a particularly challenging period in their history” and “each country has its own different challenges, with chronic instability, political turmoil and weak institutions particularly prevalent”. To this can be added “a growing threat from religious extremism and a tendency to backslide on reforms, including human rights”. Morocco deserves unreserved praise for its reforms, fully supported by the EU, Hahn stated.
Morocco is bucking the trend; it is, the commissioner said, “one of the few countries that is resisting that regional trend. So while it is vital that we in Europe devote strategic attention to the crises in our neighbourhood that are currently preoccupying us - in Ukraine, in Iraq and Syria, in Libya, there are alas too many of them to mention - we should also celebrate success stories”. The EU is “proud to be Morocco's leading cooperation partner. We are already working with you in key areas ranging from education, health, fisheries, renewable energy and infrastructure to support for SMEs to become more competitive, boost exports and create jobs. I could go on: the list is a long one. Our human contacts are also growing ever closer. Some 5 million EU residents of Moroccan origin have already enriched the diversity of European society”.
Relations now extend to tackling irregular migration, a phenomenon which “poses difficult and complex challenges for the EU and its neighbours. Morocco has assumed its share of responsibility in managing these migratory flows, by signing a mobility partnership with the EU”. It is a “commitment, unrivalled in the region,” and is “recognition that the EU relationship with Morocco is special”, the commissioner said. “It reflects our determination to provide sustained support to your efforts to introduce far-reaching reforms”, including EU support for civil society which the commissioner described as an “important element of our partnership”.
For the commissioner, the picture presented by the region also requires change on the part of the EU, which is becoming aware of a need to review its neighbourhood policy. “The EU has changed, almost doubling its membership to 28 member states”, in addition to the emergence of the eurozone. “And Africa is changing.” The southern rim of the Mediterranean is the first step. “There is widespread recognition both in Europe and in the Middle East and North Africa that we need to refresh our engagement in the region. President Juncker has asked me to take stock of the ENP (European neighbourhood policy) and suggest a way forward within the first twelve months of my mandate. The process of reflection has already started and it will be important to find the right approach that reflects the particular circumstances of each country”, Hahn said. (FB)