Luxembourg, 09/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - In Luxembourg on Tuesday, the EU and Morocco discussed all political and economic issues of their co-operation. Presenting the result of this second meeting of the EU/Morocco Association Council to the press, the Belgian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Annemie Neyts welcomed the good relations between the two partners and recalled that Morocco would soon be taking part in several important meetings, like the ministerial conference on immigration organised by the Belgian Presidency on 16 and 17 October in Brussels. A Council document also stresses that the "EU knows that, once more, it will be able to count on the active participation of Morocco" at the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference, in Brussels on 5 and 6 November. This document, approved by the General Affairs Council the day before, stipulates that the EU welcomes the wide-ranging reforms begun these past few years and encourages Morocco to continue down that path. It cites in particular the administrative reforms, education and tax, that can contribute to improving the country's competitiveness and attract more investments. At the press conference, the Moroccan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Tayeb Fassi-Fihri, reaffirmed that, for Morocco, relations with the UE were a "strategic axe", and that his country wanted to "further share values and know-how with the EU", in the perspective of a "rapprochement of our economies and our societies". Among the topics raised in Luxembourg were:
- Terrorism: Ms. Neyts told journalists that "the common fight against terrorism" had been broached at the same time as efforts to prevent or extinguish conflicts that fuel it, even though they cannot serve as justification. Mr. Fassi-Fihri recalled that Morocco had been one of the first countries to manifest its solidarity and readiness to contribute to diplomatic and financial efforts (freezing of assets) and in the information exchange required in the international fight against terrorism. He also reaffirmed "our attachment to a controlled and targeted conduct of ongoing operations" at military level. He then added: "This question (the fight against terrorism: Ed.) has in no way to conceal the need to find a comprehensive and definitive solution to the crisis in the Middle East and the Palestinian question".
- Immigration: while recalling that two million Moroccans were legally installed in the EU, Mr. Fassi-Fihri hoped that the Union and Morocco could "organise themselves to manage the phenomenon of illegal immigration as best as possible". He stressed that the illegal immigrants were also for a good part people of Sub-Saharan origin whose often tragic attempts to cross over could be explained by the economic comfort offered by the EU (he recalled that "the difference in per capital revenue was 1 to 10, at a distance of 14 km"). Morocco alone cannot intervene totally effectively, he said, hoping to share the burden of responsibility with the EU in the context of a "comprehensive approach" allow for flows to be managed while respecting bilateral agreements with certain Member States and satisfying the needs of Europeans in labour. "Morocco is discussing this without complex or taboos", he added.
- Agriculture: the EU and Morocco hope to begin negotiations on greater liberalisation in agricultural trade early-2002, and, if possible, complete them before the end of the year. "We were wise in settling the problem of tomatoes for one marketing year", said Fassi-Fihri, hoping that this issue could be settled once and for all in these negotiations, and stating that Morocco's market share of tomatoes was "insignificant".
