Study celebrates Moroccan diplomacy's rapport with European powers

In a study published by the European Council on Foreign Relations, Morocco is presented as a formidable adversary for the European Union, thanks to the strength of its diplomacy and its latest international achievements on the Sahara issue.

The author discusses the relations between France, Spain and Germany and Morocco, and suggests ways in which Europe can play its part.

Entitled “Le labyrinthe du Maghreb: harmoniser les politiques européennes divergentes en Afrique du Nord”, the analysis paper looks at relations between the European Union and the Maghreb countries.

In a study signed by the European Council on Foreign Relations, Morocco is presented as a kind of formidable adversary for the European Union, thanks to the strength of its diplomacy and its latest gains on the Sahara issue at international level.

The author discusses the relations between France, Spain and Germany and Morocco, and suggests ways in which Europe can play its part.

Entitled “Le labyrinthe du Maghreb: harmoniser les politiques européennes divergentes en Afrique du Nord”, the analysis paper looks at relations between the European Union and the Maghreb countries.

The author details all the economic and, above all, foreign policy challenges faced by EU member states with regard to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

Each country, treated separately and then in a more global context, is dissected according to European expectations and interests.

Morocco, in this sense, has the lion’s share, and is presented as a country posing challenges to European states, thanks in particular to its diplomatic achievements on the Sahara issue, which undermine a certain EU position that tends to leave Morocco between a rock and a hard place.

“It is becoming more difficult for Europeans to balance support for Tunisia with pressure to improve its treatment of migrants and undertake significant economic reforms, to prevent Morocco from using its influence to obtain concessions on the Western Sahara, and to encourage Algeria towards greater economic openness”, sums up the author.

With Morocco, “the Europeans must prevent the country from pursuing a constant campaign to increase concessions on the Western Sahara”, says the analysis paper.

It adds in this sense that the forthcoming ECJ appeal decision on the inclusion of the Sahara in trade and fisheries agreements with the EU will be decisive for relations between the Kingdom and EU members.

The decision could provoke a crisis if it goes against Morocco and the European Commission, recalls the analysis, which considers that despite everything, it will be to Europe’s advantage if this decision is unfavorable to Morocco’s interests.

When it comes to French relations with Morocco in particular, these have gone through a turbulent period in recent years, the publication recalls, arguing that one of the reasons for this is France’s position on the Sahara.

“After Trump altered the US position on the territory, France crystallized as the next prize to be pursued by Morocco in its campaign to consolidate its claim to sovereignty,” says the analysis.

France has long been one of the strongest European supporters of Morocco’s proposed solution.

French leaders have always described this plan as “a serious and credible basis” for resolving the dispute, but this choice of words, which once seemed to lean in Morocco’s favor, now seems weak compared to the positions of the United States, the research institute acknowledges.

With regard to Germany, the same source states that it “attaches great importance to relations with Morocco, given the latter’s stability and relative openness to commercial cooperation”.

Furthermore, the publication acknowledges that the EU’s reluctance to provoke a crisis with Morocco “testifies to the country’s diplomatic skill in becoming an effective partner for Europe”.

In addition to its close ties with Spain and France, Morocco has gone further than its neighbors in diversifying its economy, attracting European investment and adopting renewable energies.

The Kingdom signed a green energy partnership with the EU in October 2022, the first between the EU and a partner, and intended to serve as a model for future agreements. The partnership aims to strengthen policy coordination and promote green projects.

Morocco is already home to one of the world’s largest concentrated solar power plants.

In sum, argues the research institute, “Europe is weakening itself in its relations with the Maghreb by pursuing (a) fragmented approach”, thus calling for EU member states to have their own interests to defend, while framing themselves within a broader European vision to give them an advantage.

He concludes: “The current approach risks allowing North African leaders to gain the upper hand in bilateral relations focused on their own interests. But the varied relations of France, Italy, Spain and Germany with the Maghreb countries could become a source of strength for Europe if they were better harmonized”.