Brussels/Rabat, 16/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - President Josep Borrell, who has been on a visit to Rabat since Tuesday, told the local press that the objective of his visit was to reassure the Moroccans about the solidity of their relationship with the EU: "the balance-sheet (of this cooperation) is positive, but it is certainly not enough. The figures are there to remind us that the EU absorbs some 70% of Moroccan imports and that 63% of Moroccan imports come from the EU. We are extremely important commercial partners. We have a solid relationship, a long friendship in that our first agreement dates back to 1977. However, in my view, we should be doing a lot more". Mr Borrell particularly welcomed the conclusion of an EU/Morocco fisheries agreement on July, noting that the parliamentarians, who are "occasionally very divided" on this issue, would have their say when the agreement was put to them
Furthermore, he added, "I would also, and above all, like to reassure Morocco about concerns relating to the Moroccan community in Europe, by stressing the importance the European Parliament attaches to the fight against discrimination. The fight against terrorism must not become Islamophobia; this would be the very worst that could happen, as it would mean a huge victory for the terrorists". He feels that "the solution cannot be just to open up our borders without any kind of order or control. Certainly, we need immigrants, but we must also be able to ensure that they integrate socially. This calls for immigration flows to be regulated". He also reiterated the "serious concern" of the European Parliament on the creation of retention centres in the EU's neighbour countries (notably in Libya). "The management of migratory flows cannot be a purely security issue. We in the European Parliament have just held a broad discussion with the UK Presidency of the EU. We feel that if somebody must be removed from the European territory, then we must make sure that they are not sent back to a country where he or she may be in serious danger (...). On this specific aspect, there may be a difference of opinion between the Member States and the European Parliament", he noted.
Mr Borell also invited the governments to breathe new life into the Barcelona process: it would be a "major error" to give up on this, he said, but he also noted that "we Europeans must recognise that over the last 10 years, the priority has not been given to our Mediterranean neighbours. Europe has looked to the east much more than to the south. Europe has not invested all the political energy in the Barcelona process that it promised to do in the early 1990s". Mr Borrell also highlighted the role to be played on this by the Parliament and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (of which he is president until March 2006), so that "Euromed is not the sole reserve of government and diplomats. The days when only governments could conclude international agreements between themselves have gone". In his statements, Mr Borrell confirmed that his idea of symbolically holding the forthcoming session of the EMPA in Palestine had been abandoned. The President stated that he intends to "promote the role of the EMPA in the Barcelona Process as a stimulus to the neighbourhood policy".