EU grants "advanced status" to Morocco

19/10/2008

After pursuing "advanced status" relations with the European Union for nearly 9 years, Morocco finally achieved its goal last week in Luxembourg. The EU move rewards the Kingdom for its democratic reforms.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 19/10/08

[Getty Images] EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner discusses Morocco's new "advanced status" on October 13th in Luxembourg.

Recognising Morocco's "raft of reforms", the European Union agreed Monday (October 13th) in Luxembourg to grant Morocco advanced status relations with the 27-member bloc. The unprecedented measure by the EU-Morocco Association Council is expected to gradually integrate Morocco into EU policies and deepen free trade agreements.

"Morocco is the first country in the southern Mediterranean region to benefit from the advanced status in its relations with the EU," Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, told the council.

That Morocco's reform initiatives contributed to the EU decision was made clear by observers and officials.

"This European engagement on the advanced status is firstly proof of confidence... in Morocco's efforts in terms of political reforms, consolidation of the rule of law, a better justice system, economic reforms, social cohesion and the fight against poverty," Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri told reporters in Luxembourg.

Under the agreement, Morocco is less than a member but more than a partner to the EU.

The status accord paves the way for a "common economic space" based on the rules of the European Economic Area, a deeper free trade agreement covering new areas such as intellectual property rights, capital movements and sustainable development, Moroccan access to European security agencies and crisis management operations and regular political summits between the EU and the Kingdom.

As Minister Fihri put it, the new status gives Morocco "everything except the institutions". Europe has been looking for a model on which it can practice political, economic and human rights reforms, explained Manar Slimi, a professor of political science at Mohammed V University.

"Morocco has been chosen because it is the most advanced country in the Arab Maghreb," he told Magharebia. "It has some sort of economic dynamism, there are political reforms taking place, although they have not yet reached their end, and there is a human rights movement, which, in spite of the criticisms made against it, is the most advanced compared to other countries in the Arab Maghreb."

For most citizens of the Kingdom, the benefit of last week's decision in Luxembourg is easy to grasp; Morocco will be able to attract more European investments and security co-operation will also likely see tangible results.

The job for the government, however, may not be as simple.

"The advanced status is considered a privilege for Morocco, but at the same time, it creates a set of commitments, if not complications. Morocco is now required to introduce a set of reforms." Slimi said.

"On the political level, reforms must be introduced into institutions. On the economic level, Morocco is required to show more openness at a time when the world is experiencing a financial crisis."

The status agreement presents another problem, according to the president of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights.

"Morocco and the EU have signed economic agreements that don't take into consideration Morocco's obligations in terms of human rights," Khadija Ryadi told Magharebia.

"In the advanced status granted by the EU to Morocco, the European side failed to turn the agreement into a mechanism with which it makes Morocco acknowledge its obligations, integrate them into its laws and respect them," Ryadi added.

"The human rights struggle will not take place through the EU; rather it is a domestic affair," she said.

The Amazigh Democratic Party had also asked the European committee to reconsider Morocco's request for obtaining advanced status, citing concerns that the country does not respect its human rights obligations.