The time has come for great ambitions: Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit, at the invitation of Sovereign Mohammed VI, concentrates a busy program, sealing cooperation in multiple areas, from immigration… to gaming . France is traveling with its best ambassadors, first from the economic world, including 50 big bosses, but also, capitalizing on the post-Olympics, with its most beautiful stars, like the Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner. The charm operation must be complete and the visit without a hitch.
Especially since she will have to after a sequence marked by the death of the young Filipina, killed on September 20 by a Moroccan migrant under the influence of an OQTF, and where French political leaders were able to take the risk of offending the kingdom regretting a lack of cooperation. There is no doubt, however, that the Moroccans will want to demonstrate their desire to obtain results in this area. The Elysée does not fail to argue that illegal immigration constitutes a “global and common challenge”, with the need to build a long-term agenda. The subject remains highly flammable and an unfortunate statement should not spoil the party. In discussions, every term will count. Like that of “selected” immigration, which suggests that the relationship is not equal and that France could make its market among graduates, without any real compensation for Morocco.
Avoid all the oddities, because “France doesn’t really have a plan B”, summarizes Pierre Vermeren, historian and university professor, author of Morocco in 100 questions. A kingdom of paradoxes (Ed. Tallandier, 2020). While relations with Algiers are at an impasse – particularly on the “forgiveness” that Macron refuses to pronounce -, Paris has never needed Rabat so much: the Cherifian kingdom can be the key to the rest of the continent, and in particular the Sahel, West Africa, Libya, where the powers in place are more and more openly hostile to Paris… Moreover, its geographical position places it in fact as the guardian of Europe and on the front line against traffic operated by smugglers.
Make people forget the visa quarrel
Forgotten therefore are the multiple misunderstandings of the last ten years, including the visa dispute, which, recalls Pierre Vermeren, had lastingly damaged the relationship between Paris and Rabat. In 2021, Paris is reducing the number of visas granted to Moroccan nationals – as well as Tunisians and Algerians – in retaliation for the lack of speed in the execution of removals. There too, the poison of the migration question has infused. For Moroccans, the humiliation is terrible: it is its elite – used to coming regularly to Paris – who suffer the most from this measure. Especially when we know that France has 53,000 Moroccans in higher education, who may have been prevented from seeing their families.
In November 2023, the French ambassador to Morocco announced the lifting of restrictions. The first in a series of strong gestures intended to relaunch the relationship under better auspices. The latest to date is undoubtedly the most important: at the end of July, France declared that, in the case of Western Sahara, only the Moroccan plan can serve as a basis for a settlement of the issue, at the risk of angering Algiers. Rabat has been waiting for a long time for France to come and join Spain and the United States, which openly support Morocco in this territorial dispute which has pitted it for half a century against the Polisario Front, largely supported by Algiers in this desert expanse located in the south of Morocco and of which the kingdom controls 80%. The remaining 20% being in the hands of the Polisario. It remains to be seen whether President Macron will be ready to go further in his support, such as announcing the opening of a French embassy in this disputed territory. Other states have already done so.
We almost come to forget that with Morocco, cooperation is largely economic: in terms of trade but also bilateral investments. The figures speak for themselves: 14 billion last year, which was a record. They have doubled in eight years, according to the Elysée. With the desire on each side to focus on more innovative sectors, such as renewable energies, water desalination, green hydrogen, etc.
In addition to a major Franco-Moroccan forum on October 29, which Emmanuel Macron will attend, the visit will be the occasion for the signing of important agreements. In the delegation of French bosses, there are, in particular, Airbus, Thales, Transavia, Alstom, CMA CGM, Suez, Veolia, Engie, TotalEnergies… Enough to return with some good news on the economic front, while the examination of the budget Michel Barnier’s 2025 was marked by restrictions, including in particular public development aid, which mainly benefits the African continent. Now confined to Foreign Affairs, President Macron is guaranteed to seal successes, with Franco-French policy never being far away.
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