Spain on Thursday backed strengthening EU-Morocco ties, which took a hit after the bloc’s top court cancelled trade deals with its strategic neighbour over a disputed north African territory.
The European Union has tightened cooperation with Rabat, an important trading partner, since signing an association deal in 1996, notably facilitating trade in agriculture and fishing.
But the Western Sahara, a vast and resource-rich former Spanish colony mostly controlled by Morocco but claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front, has complicated the strengthening of relations.
In October last year, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed a 2021 ruling that cancelled deals allowing Morocco to export fish and farm products to the 27-nation bloc from the Western Sahara.
The court said the agreements breached the principles of self-determination in the Western Sahara, posing questions about future prospects for stronger ties between Morocco and the EU.
On Thursday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares underscored the current benefits of Morocco’s “privileged status” with the EU and his country’s desire to deepen it.
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“Therefore, Spain wishes for the prompt holding of a European Union-Morocco council that gives fresh impetus to this strategic association,” he said at a joint appearance in Madrid with Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita.
Spain improved its previously fraught ties with Morocco in 2022 after backing Rabat’s plan to grant the Western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, a stance also supported by the United States and France.
Bourita said the Spanish-Moroccan relationship was now “going through its best moment” and that his country aimed for more cooperation and investment from its European neighbour.
