The European Union (EU) and Morocco will enter into a new free-trade agreement, aimed at enhancing closer economic integration between the African nation and the EU single market, according to a press statement issued here Tuesday by the European Commission.
The statement quoted the President of the European Commission, Manuel Barroso, as saying that the agreement was negotiated when he visited Rabat last week.
Mr. Barroso also said that, when signed, the agreement would mark a new phase in EU-Morocco ties.
He said “The talks are expected to lead to an agreement which will facilitate the procedures for issuing visas to certain categories of persons,” adding that “In the long run, it will enable Moroccan citizens to move in and out of Europe without visas.”
Morocco is the only Maghreb country to benefit from an “advanced status” agreement with the EU, under which the EU provided funding, worth Euros 660 million, to the kingdom in 2011.
