EU Wants to Strengthen ‘Unique and Reliable’ Partnership with Morocco at All Levels, EC Pres. Says

The European Union wants to strengthen its “unique and reliable” partnership with Morocco at all levels, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “We want to strengthen the unique and reliable EU-Morocco partnership across the board: Enhanced trade and more cooperation on digital and energy, for example,” Ms. Von der Leyen tweeted following her telephone conversation Tuesday with the Head of Government, Azizi Akhannouch, focused on “the strategic partnership” linking the Kingdom and the EU. According to the EC President, EU’s investment strategy GlobalGateway can support the efforts of Rabat and Brussels.  The Global Gateway is the EU’s new connectivity strategy that aims to create “smart, sustainable and secure” links with countries around the world in the thematic areas of digital, energy and transport.  It also aims to strengthen health and education systems across the world. During her visit last February to Rabat, von der Leyen confirmed the willingness of the European Union to continue to deepen “the close and solid strategic partnership” with Morocco. Morocco and the EU launched on June 27, 2019, in Brussels, the “Euro-Moroccan partnership for shared prosperity,” a new legal framework guiding their bilateral relations. This partnership encompasses four structural areas: convergence of values; economic convergence and social cohesion; shared knowledge; and political consultation and enhanced cooperation on security. This reformed partnership is also based on two key axes, namely cooperation in the field of the environment and the fight against climate change; as well as cooperation in the field of mobility and migration.