Thirty years on, Morocco and the EU move to replace their core agreement

Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas agreed today in Rabat to begin drafting a new strategic partnership framework, as the European Union reaffirmed support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara in a relationship that reached €60.6 billion in trade in goods in 2024.

“We did not just exchange views, we agreed on concrete measures,” Bourita said, adding that the two sides would work “to reach, as soon as possible, a new strategic partnership document” to govern relations in the coming years.

All 27 EU member states endorsed a position stating that “genuine autonomy could be among the most feasible solutions” to the dispute, aligning the bloc with the UN framework and reinforcing a political line that has tightened in recent months.

Kaja Kallas said the EU supports a process “on the basis of the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco,” and called for negotiations without preconditions, confirming a unified position across the bloc.

The EU accounts for 59 percent of Morocco’s total trade, with 67.7 percent of Moroccan exports going to the bloc and 54 percent of imports coming from it, making Europe by far Morocco’s largest economic partner.

A 2024 European Court of Justice ruling invalidated trade agreements covering the Sahara, forcing both sides to revise the legal framework governing agricultural and fisheries exports.

In October 2025, Morocco and the EU approved a revised trade agreement allowing agricultural products from the Sahara to continue entering the European market under preferential tariffs, with new origin labeling rules introduced to comply with the court’s requirements.

Spanish customs authorities later activated updated procedures to ensure continued access for products from the territory, particularly in fruit and vegetable exports that underpin local economic activity. 

“Morocco is a valued partner,” Kallas said, linking the next phase to expanded cooperation in energy, innovation and security, sectors the EU sees as central to future investment and regional stability.

 The EU accounts for more than half of Morocco’s external trade and remains its largest economic partner, anchoring a relationship built on the Association Agreement signed in 1996 and in force since 2000.

That agreement is approaching 30 years and no longer reflects the scope of cooperation, with relations now extending beyond trade into migration management, energy transition, security coordination and digital policy, areas that were not structurally embedded in the original framework

Bourita said the partnership remains “strategic” for King Mohammed VI and must continue as “a partnership between equals based on respect and shared ambition.”

The European position on the Sahara was reiterated alongside support for UN Security Council efforts, including Resolution 2797, which backs negotiations based on Morocco’s autonomy proposal.

The timing places the EU stance ahead of upcoming UN discussions on the file.