Morocco
The main objective of the cooperation between Morocco and the Council of Europe, in line with the Council of Europe’s policy towards its neighbouring regions, is to assist Morocco in the process of democratic changes underway by helping the country to tackle challenges related to human rights, the rule of law and democracy.
Since the launch of the Neighbourhood Cooperation Priorities in 2012 and the Neighbourhood Partnership in 2015, the political dialogue and technical cooperation with Morocco have evolved more sophisticated, yielding significant results. In the field of human rights, for example, Morocco has adopted the law instituting the Authority for Parity and Fight against All Forms of Discrimination (APALD), while striving to consolidate children's rights and the means to protect them against violence by adopting the integrated child protection policy (PPIPE). Similarly, Morocco has acted on its desire for closer alignment with the Council of Europe's standards by ratifying several conventions and partial agreements.
Under the Neighbourhood Partnership with Morocco (2018-2021), adopted by the Committee of Ministers in March 2018, the Council of Europe will:
- Consolidate the achievements of the cooperation implemented since 2012 and expand cooperation to new areas, in line with national reform priorities, based on demand and in the field of Council of Europe expertise;
- Continue the creation of a common legal area between Europe and Morocco;
- Provide support to the effective implementation of new legislation following with European and other international standards;
- Provide support to the settingup and the effective functioning of human rights institutions and new governance structures; paying particular attention to the independent bodies created by the Constitution of 2011;
- Consolidate Morocco’s presence in Council of Europe’s instances of which it is already a member or observer (European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), European Audiovisual Observatory, European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity of the Council of Europe (NorthSouth Centre), Pompidou Group) and to encourage it to participate in other Council of Europe structures, according to needs.
The main financial instruments used to implement this Neighbourhood Partnership are the South Programme III and the voluntary contributions of Council of Europe various member States.
