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After his talks with the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, on February 18, Nasser Bourita had the opportunity to present the Moroccan approach for its relations with its first economic partner. An approach based on dialogue and consultation, as he mentioned for the issue of tax cooperation.
«The EU cannot establish criteria and say 'we use them for the Cayman Islands, we use them for Morocco'», he said. «If the southern neighborhood is important, it should not suffer the consequences of decisions made by the EU», the Minister explained.
The European Union «should move away from the teacher-pupil logic in its relationship with the southern Mediterranean neighborhood», Bourita explained.
This approach also applies to other important issues such as migration. «The easy solution is to blame everything on transit countries because solving the problem at the very beginning seems difficult and because, in the host countries, there is such political pressure».
«No one wants to have a serene, lucid discussion on the migratory phenomenon. Therefore, making transit countries feel excessively guilty is a bad method», he argued.
The Minister took this opportunity to reiterate the Kingdom's categorical rejection of all the solutions proposed by the EU in this regard, such as «Hotspots». «Morocco shoulders its responsibilities, but will never act as a policeman because it is neither its vocation, nor its conviction», he stressed.
«Europe must get out of its comfort zone»
As with the migration issue, Morocco is hardly satisfied with the European position on the Sahara issue, especially after the United States recognized its sovereignty over the territory. «It is a natural evolution of the American position which, since 2007, considers the Moroccan autonomy initiative as a serious and realistic basis to finding a lasting solution to this regional dispute. And when we say autonomy, I don't think there is autonomy outside of sovereignty», Bourita said.
He therefore called on the European Union to «get out of its comfort zone and support this international trend (…) The process has been going in circles for years. Today, an orientation is emerging and it is this orientation that the EU must also follow. Europe needs a stable and secure Sahel-Saharan zone».
Nasser Bourita also warned the EU against «judicial harassment» carried out by the Polisario through its numerous appeals presented to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Court will also examine on March 2 a new appeal lodged against the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the EU and Morocco on the modification of protocols n° 1 and n° 4 of the agreement of association between the two parties. «If Europe believes in the partnership between Morocco and the EU, it must be aware that this partnership has enemies. It is up to Europe to react», he concluded.
