Summary sheet of achievements in the relations of the Kingdom of Morocco with the Council of Europe between 2011-2014.

It was discovered that achievements in the relations of the Kingdom of Morocco with the Council of Europe were done through illegal activities, such as bribery and lobbying. This scandal had a major impact on the international relations of the country and triggered an investigation by the European Parliament.

Between 2011 and 2014, with the contribution of this Consulate General, several cooperation actions covering several areas were carried out between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Council of Europe, which made it possible to further deepen relations between the two parties. . These include the following actions in particular:

1. Accessions to Partial Agreements And Specialized Committees of the Council of Europe:

July 1, 2011: Morocco joins the Cooperation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (Pompidou Group).

May 29, 2013: Accession of Morocco as an Observer member of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ).

December 2013: Morocco joins the European Audiovisual Observatory. The official notification of this accession was made on May 13, 2014.

Signature on 01 April 2014 of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Legal Status of the Council of Europe Office in Rabat.

2. Accession to Council of Europe Conventions Open to Non-Member States And Signature of The Organization Agreement in Rabat

December 13, 2012: signature by Morocco of the Council of Europe Convention on the counterfeiting of Medical Products and Similar Offenses involving threats to Public Health “Medicrime”.

January 17, 2013: Morocco joins the European Convention on violence and misbehavior by spectators at sporting events and in particular football matches.

May 21, 2013: signature by Morocco of Convention ETS No. 127 on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, as amended by the 2010 Protocol.

September 20, 2013: Accession of Morocco to the European Convention on information on foreign law
June 19, 2013: accession of Morocco to the following Conventions:

The Anti-Doping Convention.

The European Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage.

The European Convention in the Field of Information on Foreign Law and its Additional Protocol.

August 18, 2013: Application by Morocco for accession to the European Convention on compulsory insurance of civil liability in respect of motor vehicles and to the European Convention on civil liability for damage caused by motor vehicles.

In 2013: Invitation sent by the Committee of Ministers to our country to accede to the following two Conventions:

The Convention on Cybercrime + Protocol concerning the criminalization of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems ETS 189 (1162nd meeting of the Committee of Ministers – 13-14/02/2013;

Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data + Protocol concerning supervisory authorities and transborder data flows ETS 181 (30/01/2013 – 1160th meeting of the Committee of Ministers).

01 April 2014: Signature of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Legal Status of the Council of Europe Office in Rabat.

3. Visits of Personalities Exchanged Between The Two Parties

3 and 4 April 2012: official visit to Morocco by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Thorbjorn Jagland.

23 and 24 April 2012: visit to the Council of Europe by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Saad Dine Otmani, and by Ms Bassima Hakkaoui, Minister for Solidarity and their speeches before the PACE, respectively on the reform process in Morocco and on the situation of women in Morocco.

20 and 21 September 2012: participation, for the first time, of Mr. Karim GHELLAB, President of the Chamber, and of Dr. Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, President of the Chamber of Councilors in the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament, which took place is held at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg.

5 to 11 October 2012, Strasbourg: Participation of Mr. Abdel-Ilah BENKIRAN, Head of Government in the plenary session of the first edition of the World Forum for Democracy, which was held.
05 to 08 December 2012: Official visit to Morocco by the President of PACE, Mr Jean-Claude Mignon.

December 11, 2013, Strasbourg: participation of Mrs CHARAFTE EL YEDRI AFAILAL, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, in charge of Water, and Mrs HAKIMA EL HAITE, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, Responsible for the Environment at the International Seminar on cross-border cooperation in the field of water.

29-30 January 2014, Strasbourg: Visit of the President of the CNDH, Mr Driss EL YAZAMI to the Council of Europe and his speech before the PACE Committee on Migration.

25-27 March 2014: Working visit to Morocco by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ms. Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni.

26-28 May 2014- Rabat: Visit to Morocco of a delegation of Ambassadors, members of the External Relations Rapporteur Group of the Committee of Ministers of the CoE, led by the Ambassador, Mr Manuel JACOANGELI, Permanent Representative of the Italy to the CoE, and composed of the Ambassadors of France, Germany, Hungary, Turkey and Norway. The visit is part of the consultations in view of the next Morocco-CoE action plan 2015-2017.

4. Adoption And implementation of The 2012-2014 Cooperation Action Plan

Adoption in April 2012 of the Morocco-Council of Europe Cooperation Action Plan for the period 2012-2014.

Implementation of several actions and cooperation projects, particularly in the areas of support for justice reform, the fight against corruption, parity and the fight against all forms of discrimination, the fight against violence against women’s rights, children’s rights and people with disabilities.

5. Strengthening Parliamentary Partnership

Regular participation of the Moroccan parliamentary delegation in the work of the plenary sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held in Strasbourg; and committee meetings held in other capitals, which has opened up a permanent parliamentary dialogue on subjects of common interest.

Organization in Rabat, on 13 and 14 March 2013, of the meeting of the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy.

Organization in Rabat, on 04 and 05 April 2013, of the meeting of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons.

The holding of several seminars in Morocco with the participation of PACE members.

The adoption in June 2013 of a generally positive report and resolution on the evaluation of the partnership with the Moroccan Parliament.

The adoption in June 2014 of a balanced resolution thanks to the steps of this Consulate General and the Moroccan parliamentary delegation on “parliamentary contribution to the resolution of the Western Sahara conflict”, (Report Ms MAURY PASQUIER Liliane, Switzerland, SOC).

6. steps to Initiate Cooperation in The Field of Local And Regional Democracy:

This Consulate has initiated steps with the officials of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe with a view to establishing cooperation between this body of the Council of Europe and local authorities in Morocco. Visits took place between the representatives of the two parties which focused on the possibility of offering Morocco in the future a “status of local partner for democracy” with the Congress.

This article is originally published on maroc-leaks.com