In an interview with EUToday, Endre Barcs talks to German MEP Lars Patrick Berg on the growing partnership between Morocco and the EU.
Morocco, under the tutelage of King Mohammed VI, who ascended to the throne in July 1999 upon the death of his father, King Hassan II, has emerged as a key strategic partner for the EU.
The country’s location, just a short hop across the Straits of Gibraltar, makes it an affective bridge between North Africa and Europe. The recent development of the Tanger-Med passenger and cargo port, conceived by The King himself, has strengthened Morocco’s position.
The Strait itself is a crossing point for around 20% of global trade, with 100,000 ships per year transiting the 14km wide waters that separate Africa from Europe.
Endre Barcs had the opportunity to discuss the relationship between the EU and Morocco, and the prospects for the future, with German MEP Lars Patrick Berg,
Q: Dear Mr Berg, you have visited Morocco on a number of occasions, and you are also a member of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union, including the EU-Morocco Joint Parliamentary Committee. What is your general opinion about current EU-Morocco relations?
Mr Berg: “Morocco is one of the partners of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership which is one of the key initiatives of the European Neighbourhood Policy, through which the EU offers its neighbours a special relationship. The key objective of the trade partnership is the creation of a free trade area, which aims at removing barriers to trade and investment between both the EU member countries and between the Southern Mediterranean countries themselves. Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements are in force with most of the partners.
“The EU-Morocco Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and the EU Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part, and applying to imports into the EU of agricultural products originating in Morocco and also applying to imports into the EU of fishery products originating in Morocco, while on the other hand gives the possibility to the EU member countries to the export of European agricultural products to Morocco. Thanks to the Agreement the EU is Morocco’s largest trading partner, accounting for 59,4% of its trade in 2017. 64,6 % of Morocco’s exports went to the EU, and 56,5% of Morocco’s imports came from the EU. Morocco is the EU’s 22nd trading partner representing 1,0% of the EU’s total trade with the world.”
Q: The free trade area that operates around the TANGER-MED port has attracted considerable investment from European companies, notably from auto-manufacturers. Would you see that as a threat to the EU, or as an opportunity?
Mr Berg: ‘I see it as a great possibility for the future trade between the EU countries and Morocco as Tangier is a sea of opportunities with the launch of the Mediterraneans largest port just 14 km away from the European southern coastline.
The city on Morocco’s northern shore has evolved from a melting pot of Arabs, Jews, Berbers and became an international trade and logistics hub by today. Tangier plays basic importance in the EU-Morocco trade, as it is connected by high-speed trains to the capital city Rabat and also Casablanca, and by modern highways to the rest of the country’.
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