inadaily.com: Morocco, looking toward the EU
Morocco, looking toward the EU
FIVE DECADES after gaining independence, Morocco is looking toward Europe. The opening events held on Wednesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence served not only to strengthen the bonds between Rabat, Paris and Madrid, but also to highlight Morocco's aspirations for a close and special relationship with the European Union (EU) - an aspiration encouraged by the opening of negotiations for Turkey's eventual EU membership. Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who attended the anniversary ceremony with the French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin as representatives of the two former colonial occupiers, gave his full support to these ambitions, a stance which has not gone unnoticed by Spain's southern neighbor.
Zapatero spoke of Morocco's "legitimate aspirations" to a "stronger relationship with the European Union." But, some weeks earlier, the Spanish foreign minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, had gone further in calling for a "statute of advanced partnership" between the kingdom of Morocco and the EU, allowing for participation in "everything but the governing institutions" of the European community. There is nothing absurd about this. Prospects for Turkish membership change the equation of the EU in the Mediterranean. For tackling certain problems, such as illegal sub-Saharan immigrants, the Union cannot solely rely on the bilateral relation between Spain and Morocco - which yesterday took the form of a meeting between Zapatero and the Moroccan prime minister, Driss Jettou, at a business summit in Seville - or even, though it is a positive step forward, on the trilateral association proposed on Wednesday by King Mohammed VI.
In the recent crisis of immigrants storming the border fences in Ceuta and Melilla (two Spanish enclaves on the coast of North Africa), the Moroccan government made an effort to collaborate in the protection of these enclaves, which it considers colonies, against illegal sub-Saharan immigration. This effort has been appreciated in Madrid and Paris. Further European aid to Rabat, proposed by Zapatero to support the struggle against illegal immigration, is also in the pipeline. The head of the Spanish government also spoke of support for the "consolidation of democracy and civil liberties in Morocco," a process in which the Alawite king is lagging far behind the expectations created when he was crowned six years ago. Resistance to change on the part of the ruling class has slowed down the reform process. Nor has the rise of Islamic terrorism helped the process.
To all this we must add another dimension - that of Algeria. The upcoming celebration of Algerian independence poses many problems for the country's former colonial occupier: France. In these days of street vandalism and violence committed by the sons and grandsons of immigrants, Paris appears to be moving closer to Algeria while Madrid seems to be moving further away. Equilibrium may be a difficult point to reach, but efforts must be made to reach it for everyone's sake.
