Colloquy: plea for a partnership for the future
Participants in the "Morocco-EU: A Shared Fate" colloquy thursday unanimously called for a partnership for the future with the kingdom.
Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi, who chaired the event with European Commission President Romano Prodi, first stressed as irreversible Morocco's democratic turn and its overture onto Europe and the world and recalled milestones in democracy-building under the late King Hassan II which climaxed with the coming to power of the current government.
These are telling signs of resolve to be part of the international democratic community and a strategic choice qualifying Morocco for closer relations with Europe, he said. The future of our relations, he went on, should not be reduced to its economic side alone and ought to be approached globally.
Dealing with the partnership agreement to be in force in the coming weeks, he said that in spite of positive aspects, it is flawed with a number of "imperfections" the EU should seriously work upon, especially in the human, social and cultural realms.
The economic adviser to the king, Andre Azoulay, said Moroccan-EU relations were of a special kind, recalling how both economies mingle intricately and underscored huge progress made by democratic institutions. Europe, he said, is in solidarity with the Moroccan experiment and has to open up further onto Morocco because it is obvious there can be no security or stability if its southern flanks are too weak.
Former Portuguese President Mario Soares and former Spanish Premier Felipe Gonzalez stressed the country's strategic importance and hailed the work of late King Hassan II and his foresight, saying he steered Morocco into modern times.
Gonzalez invited the EU to constant dialogue with its southern neighbor, especially in times when the kingdom is busy consolidating democracy and updating economic structures.
Other speakers deplored too many experts meetings and so few tangible projects and called for the consolidation and new orientation to the MEDA program to cater for Moroccan developmental projects launched by King Mohammed VI.
