The North Africa Post
Members of the foreign affairs committee at the European Parliament turned down a proposal sponsored by advocates of separatism calling for treating southern Morocco, the Sahara, as a separate entity within the European neighborhood policy.
The anti-Morocco proposal was put forward by the Greens in a series of failed proposals that bear prejudice to the territorial integrity of a close-EU partner in the Mediterranean.
Morocco is one of the main beneficiaries of the EU’s neighborhood policy, which aims at promoting prosperity, stability and security in the region.
Partnership between the two parties survived the maneuvers of separatist proponents as Morocco and the EU renewed both the agricultural and the fisheries agreements, which both cover products from the Sahara.
Morocco and the EU cooperate on a range of key issues including migration and security.
The Union is Morocco’s largest trading partner, accounting for 59.4 % of its trade in 2017. The same year, 64.6 % of Morocco’s exports went to the EU, and 56.5 % of Morocco’s imports came from the EU.
Morocco is the EU’s 22nd trading partner representing 1.0 % of the EU’s total trade with the world. Total trade in goods between the EU and Morocco in 2017 amounted to €37.4 billion.
Two-way trade in services amounted to €8.8 billion in 2016 with EU imports of services representing €5.2 billion and exports €3.6 billion.
POSTED BY NORTH AFRICA POST
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