A report by the Institute for Applied Geopolitical Studies (EGA) in November, under the theme “What status for Morocco vis-à-vis France and Europe? », appeared under the direction of Manon Chelem and Alexandre Negrus. For the occasion, they had their feathers crossed and associated.
The walk through its chapters leads to various horizons which along the way, questions the international policy of France and Europe applied to African countries. According to the document, it is now based more on balance of power rather than on ideological considerations. The founding president of the EGA, Alexandre Negrus, devoted himself to the geopolitical, geoeconomic and social aspect which should now be integrated, according to him for more realism and pragmatism in the very approach to cooperation with the Kingdom and at its depths with sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
In an interview with Le Point, he focused on the need to get out of certain postures. The jurist in international law will therefore say,In a context of diplomatic coldness between the Kingdom of Morocco and France, it is essential to analyze the relations between France and Morocco on the one hand, and between the European Union and Morocco on the other, with a renewed approach, in order to put an end to certain postures “.
And to add,The production of knowledge in international relations about the Kingdom of Morocco has often been redundant for many years. Relations between Paris and Rabat are polarized between enthusiasts and detractors, but the theoretical and practical approach must be taken in the light of contemporary developments. Morocco is now assuming a new status that France and the European Union must take into account”.The ambition is to imagine the future of relations between the European Union, France and Africa with the Kingdom of Morocco as a pivot on several scales.
For Alexandre Negrus, “envising sustained economic cooperation means projecting oneself into a dimension that is both security and geoeconomic, which will make it possible to apprehend new challenges. If the Kingdom of Morocco is not a “specificity”, the fact remains that this country, with its macroeconomic and institutional stability, as well as its security approach, is characterized by its singularity.“. EGA’s founding president will state his full convictions as to, “obvious opportunities for multidimensional cooperation with France and Europe, the latter having an interest in not seeing Chinese, Russian and Turkish competitors take additional market share“.
The snippets of statements were quite interesting, so we got this one, for example, “Morocco is positioning itself as an emerging, ambitious power whose stability is a guarantee for France and the European Union. Africa as a market of the future for Europe would be a very pretentious French and European positioning if the counterparties do not balance each other ». The French authorities must work pragmatically to project themselves into the future of their strategic partnerships in North Africa and in Africa in general.
For this, common actions should be implemented between Morocco, France and Europe gold, “the long-term establishment of tense relations between the two countries is bad news for France. The question of the drastic reduction of visas, in particular, constitutes the most visible bone of contention and it is necessary, for several reasons, to find a solution to the dispute relating to this subject.“. This taints broader and more effective cooperation in a number of areas.
This is particularly the case in terms of security, where Morocco is positioning itself as a key player in the fight against terrorism. The challenges are numerous, security, energy supply, environment, migration and good governance…, among others. Alexandre Negrus will add “that it is also essential, at European level, to step up cooperation with Morocco on the subject of migration. The French and European authorities have, in the past, shown some disorganization regarding the control of migratory flows“.
It is obvious that Morocco is a strong partner and “it is not inconceivable that, in a future with an ever uncertain horizon, on the subject of the Sahara, France will take the plunge by aligning itself with the positions of its American and Spanish allies“. During his trip to Algiers, the French president gave no reason for satisfaction to Algeria continued Negrus. “French diplomacy would have everything to gain from analyzing in depth its calculation between circumstantial alliances and historical and strategic alliances with a distant horizon.“.
We liked this fall: “The French president is well aware that the Franco-Algerian dialogue around the question of memory and gas must not be done to the detriment of relations with Rabat, which have already been strained lately, in particular because of the visa affair. Considering France’s gas needs alone would therefore be a dangerous short-term view.“.