Morocco - Q&A from the press briefing (21 December 2022)
Q: The Minister was in Rabat last week. You spoke to us about this. Since then, further information has come to light regarding Morocco’s potential involvement in the payment of bribes to members or former members of the European Parliament. Do you have anything to say about this? In particular, does this issue come up in bilateral conversations with Morocco or not at all? I would like to ask a question, even though I already asked it a bit awkwardly last week, about whether or not the possibility that Morocco has spied on French figures also comes up in the diplomatic conversations between the two countries. I understand that this issue is in the hands of the judicial system now, however, does that mean there is nothing to say about the diplomatic implications of this issue?
A: As you know, there is an investigation under way regarding allegations of corruption at the European Parliament and it is our desire that full light be shed on these allegations, which would be very serious, if proven true. The judicial system must complete its work. The President of France and the Minister have spoken about this. We are waiting for the judicial system to complete its work so that it can deliver a verdict on this matter. At the same time, as you know, the European Parliament has already taken a number of measures so that the principles of transparency and exemplary conduct will apply to all of the work carried out by the European Parliament. These measures must be able to be implemented. This is a matter that we are following with the utmost vigilance. Regarding the issue of foreign interference, the Minister has written a letter about this to Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. We expect measures to be taken on this matter and we will be following this with the utmost vigilance.
The Minister was in Morocco to draw up an ambitious roadmap. As you know, her visit was part of the preparations for a state visit that will take place in the first quarter of the coming year. The date of the state visit is still to be determined but during Catherine Colonna’s trip to Morocco, we began working with the Moroccan authorities on an ambitious roadmap for the exceptional partnership between France and Morocco. This is a partnership that we hope to see continue over the next ten to twenty years. All of the topics of our bilateral relationship were addressed and as you know, this is an extremely rich relationship. We also expressed the desire – this is what the Minister shared in her remarks – to be able to address all of the global topics that we are able to partner on with Morocco. As you know, France and Morocco share the same vision of multilateralism and the international, law-based order. Given this, we hope to be able to work with the Moroccan authorities on all the key topics and major international challenges that we face, in particular in Africa.