Morocco, key Interlocutor for Europe – European Portal –

Morocco is an essential country and a key interlocutor for European officials, due to its geographic and political position at the nexus of the Atlantic, southern Mediterranean and North Africa, writes the European portal “neglobal.eu”. In an article published after the visit to Morocco of the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, the media notes that the Kingdom is a key interlocutor for European Union (EU) officials who hope to advance the “neighborhood policy” of the union in the coming years. The Kingdom has become “an essential link between the northern and southern Mediterranean to sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the Maghreb,” hence the importance of Morocco in Brussels’ foreign affairs policies, which considers it “an indispensible nation in the EU’s Neighborhood Policy,” according to the website. In this regard, “neglobal.eu” notes that the visit of Varhelyi follows a series of bilateral meetings meant to solidify Morocco’s place as a “strategic partner for the EU”, Rabat continues to occupy “a privileged place on the political agenda” of these officials. Top Moroccan and European officials have set lofty goals, the media says, adding that the talks have helped strengthen the relationship between the EU and Morocco, while helping to usher “an unparalleled deepening of the two sides’ bilateral cooperation”. It notes that Morocco “has positioned and developed itself as an indisputable oasis of social and economic stability” in the region, a “fact that is not lost on Europe’s more clear-eyed politicians”. Morocco’s energy, migration, security, counter-terrorism, climate and education policies are all issues that form the basis of its relationships with Europe, the same source points out, adding that the EU’s trade with Morocco already amounts to roughly €‎44 billion, taking fossil fuels out of the equation. In this sense, the portal highlights the EU-Morocco Green Partnership, “the first of its kind to be signed with a country that is not a member of the EU”, adding that Morocco’s climate adaptation strategies and green energy transition, which includes its development of hydrogen, have caused a flurry of activity from investors coming from Europe, all of which are scrambling to take full advantage of the new economic opportunities in the country. “This has placed Morocco in one of the most advantageous positions to fully benefit from the green energy revolution, as its production costs are some of the lowest in the world,” writes the media. The publication also recalls that the executive vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, had described the Morocco-EU partnership as “the kick-off for a development that will link up all the whole of Europe and the whole of Africa.”