King Mohammed receives EU official

Morocco's King Mohammed VI received in Agadrir on Monday the European Union commissioner for foreign relations, Christopher Patten who was accompanied by is close aids and head of the European Communities Commission delegation in Morocco, Sean Doyle.

Royal advisor, Andre Azoulay, and Morocco's secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, Taieb Fassi Fihri, attended the meeting.

The EU official arrived on the same day in Morocco for talks with Morocco authorities on relations between Morocco and the EU. Talks will cover the association agreement, the Barcelona process and enforcement of the MEDA program as well as immigration and fisheries.

The EU expressed in a statement its satisfaction over the recent signing in Morocco of a free-trade agreement between Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan as exactly the kind of consolidated cooperation to which it calls in its communication on "new impetus to Barcelona." Patten will propose technical assistance to the project.

Regarding divergences between Morocco and the EU over failure to sign a new fisheries agreement, the EU said it is convinced that its relations with Morocco are strong enough to overcome these sectoral disagreements.