The campaign of hostility to European Parliament (EP) against Morocco continues. On Thursday 16 February, the EP adopted a new resolution calling for the measures taken against Qatari representatives, within the framework of “Qatargate”, to be extended to those of Morocco.
The European Parliament has indeed adopted two resolutions on the issue of transparency and integrity in the EU decision-making process, following the “Qatargate” affair, a corruption scandal that broke out within the EU. hemicycle involving MEPs and Qatar. Morocco was cited in connection with this case, however, no evidence was presented.
This is the first resolution, adopted by 401 votes for, 3 votes against and 133 abstentions, which demands that the measures taken with regard to the representatives of Qatar be extended to those of Morocco, i.e. the suspension of the titles of access of representatives, the suspension of work on the legislative files relating to Qatar, in particular with regard to the liberalization of the visa regime, the EU-Qatar agreement on aviation as well as the visits planned until ” whether the allegations have been confirmed or denied“.
In this new resolution, precisely at the level of Paragraph 17, the European Parliament has “welcomed the measures adopted with regard to the representatives of Qatar following the revelations” , but ” however, once again expresses its deep concern at the allegations of corruption on the part of the Moroccan authorities“.
He thus asks: the implementation of the same measures (taken against the Qataris) with regard to the representatives of Morocco “and reaffirms its determination to fully investigate cases of corruption” involving countries seeking influence in Parliament, and to take appropriate action in this regard“.
The chairman of the Morocco-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission, Lahcen Haddad, denounced in a post on Twitter on the same day of the vote, that this new resolution constitutes ” gratuitous proof of the EP’s hostility against Morocco“, adding that the same parliament has just rejected an amendment presented by the ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) which stipulates the confirmation of the accusations of interference before taking action against the Kingdom.
Indeed, the amendment proposed by Jacek Saryusz-Wolski on behalf of the ECR Group and rejected by the EP suggested, among other things, ” the implementation of the same measures with regard to the representatives of Morocco if the allegations are confirmed“.
Remember that this is the second resolution harmful to Morocco in the space of a few weeks, after a first adopted on January 19, 2023 condemning press freedom in the Kingdom, considered by the two Moroccan parliamentary chambers to be an offense. ” motivated by short-term interests and direct interference in the internal affairs of the state targeting the international and continental influence of Morocco“.
In addition, diplomatic sources had declared during this first targeting that Morocco expects more attacks, something that the European Parliament was quick to carry out as part of the systematic campaign of harassment carried out by circles hostile to the Kingdom.