Moroccan-European cooperation at the center of talks between king Mohammed and EU official

Morocco's King Mohammed VI received on Monday in Agadir the European Union commissioner for foreign relations, Christopher Patten.

Talks focused on the Morocco-European Union association accord and means of bolstering cooperation between the kingdom and the Union in the political, economic, cultural and social realms, the official spokesman for the royal palace, Hassan Aourid, said in a statement.

The European official voiced on this occasion the EU's willingness to activate procedures and streamline the regulations related to the management of the MEDA funds, the spokesman said, adding that Patten equally "hailed the positive and efficient part" played by Morocco in the Euro-Mediterranean process, stemming from the Barcelona Conference.

The talks provided Pattern with the opportunity to laud the Agadir Declaration setting up a free trade area between four Arab countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia), an area that remains open to other Arab Mediterranean countries, the spokesman went on.

Patten asserted he shared the kingdom's approach concerning the issues of emigration, as these issues must not be addressed from a strictly security standpoint, and in view of the current situation, it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive approach in the matter, the spokesman said.

Patten was accompanied by his close aids and head of the European Communities Commission delegation in Morocco, Sean Doyle.

Royal advisor, Andre Azoulay, Morocco's secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, Taieb Fassi Fihri, and Morocco's ambassador to the EU Council and to the European Community Commission, Ms Aicha Belarbi, attended the meeting.