The two countries inaugurate an “Exceptional Strengthened Partnership”
Cooperation : The Kingdom and France are now united within the framework of a new “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership” which was signed as part of the state visit carried out by the French President to Morocco last October. The details.
More than a new chapter, Morocco and France want to write a new book in their history. His Majesty King Mohammed VI, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan and HRH Prince Moulay Rachid, and His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, signed, in October 2024 at the Royal Cabinet in Rabat, the Declaration relating to the “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership” between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic, with a view to enabling the two countries to better respond to all the challenges that both face, by mobilizing all relevant sectors bilateral, regional and international cooperation. “They have, in particular, identified several strategic sectors likely to be the subject of increased attention and greater effort: health security and vaccine production; water and water resources management; agriculture, forest management and food security; strengthening road, rail and maritime infrastructure and urban mobility; connectivity, energy transition and renewable energies, artificial intelligence, security and defense cooperation, cooperation in education, scientific research and university training, cultural cooperation, particularly in cultural industries and creative and heritage; cooperation in sports and the organization of major events, in the wake of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and with a view to the Football World Cup in 2030,” we read in the text of this Declaration.
“The two Heads of State agreed to directly supervise the monitoring of the “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership” between Morocco and France. They will set priorities and provide the necessary impetus for its full deployment. They will regularly monitor, including meeting as necessary, the progress of the “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership”. They agreed to appoint a strategic monitoring committee, joint and restricted, responsible for formulating any proposals likely to enable the continued deepening of the “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership”. The committee will complement, without replacing them, the pre-existing bodies for steering bilateral cooperation,” specifies the same source. And to continue: “The two Heads of State underlined that the “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership” between Morocco and France was intended to be implemented in the widest possible territorial scope, in light of of the French position expressed on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the accession to the Throne of His Majesty, in which the President of the Republic underlined: “I consider that the present and the future of Western Sahara are part of the frame of Moroccan sovereignty. […] For France, autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which this question must be resolved. Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant. For France, this now constitutes the only basis for achieving a just, lasting political solution negotiated in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
One of the highlights of the French President’s state visit was his speech to the Moroccan Parliament. Since His accession to the Throne more than 25 years ago, His Majesty King Mohammed VI embodies “the continuity of one of the oldest dynasties in the world and one of the faces of industrial and technological modernity,” declared Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, in a speech delivered to both Houses of Parliament. “25 years have passed since His Majesty became the Sovereign of the Kingdom of Morocco, embodying the continuity of one of the oldest dynasties in the world and one of the faces of industrial and technological modernity,” underlined the French President in this speech before the members of the two Houses of Parliament, gathered in a joint session. Among the oldest monarchies in the world, he continued, the Kingdom of Morocco “advances with confidence, this confidence that it has in itself and that it carries in its King, the awareness that its long history and the energy of a large number of young people, fully eager to support its emergence.
He also underlined that the Islam of tolerance promoted by His Majesty the King, Commander of the Faithful, “forms a challenge to all forms of extremism”. “This wealth of Morocco is even more precious and worthy of respect at a time when our world is torn apart by intolerance and war,” he said. “Facing us, for the next quarter of a century, all the challenges and all the possibilities are emerging,” said the French President, the day after the signing of the Declaration relating to the “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership” between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic. This Declaration, signed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and President Macron, should enable the two countries to better respond to all the challenges that both face, by mobilizing all relevant sectors of bilateral, regional and international cooperation. .
In this regard, President Macron affirmed, in his speech, that the “enlightened vision” of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the achievements of the first 25 years of his reign, are “an invitation to turn to the future” . “This, as you have understood, is what, alongside you and with you, I have come to do,” Mr. Macron said to the members of the two Chambers of Parliament. “May this state visit mark the opening of this new book in our long shared history, which will allow our two nations to move forward with determination in this uncertain century, but which needs the richness of our friendship,” he said. pleaded Mr. Macron, who is making a state visit to the Kingdom from October 28 to 30 at the invitation of HM the King. “You are also the representatives of a people who have established, by the will of their Sovereign, diversity, dialogue, tolerance, at the heart of their identity, their institutions, their Constitution,” Mr. Macron in front of the representatives of the Nation.
