Rabat – Morocco’s Government Council adopted on Thursday a draft decree to simplify administrative procedures and formalities in local administrations.
Draft decree 2.20.66 complements Law 55.19, which implements several measures to facilitate interactions between citizens and administrations.
The measures include cancelling several administrative formalities and reducing the processing period of certain procedures.
The government council approved the draft decree after Minister of the Interior Abdelouafi Laftit and Minister of Economy, Finance, and Administrative Reform Mohamed Benchaaboun presented the text.
Following the meeting, Government Spokesperson and Education Minister Saaid Amzazi said the new decree comes in application of King Mohammed VI’s directives to reform Morocco’s administrations, optimize their performance, and improve the services provided to citizens.
In a press briefing, Amzazi explained that the draft decree further decreases the time required to process some administrative documents. The text also provides for the creation of a national commission to supervise the implementation of the simplified procedures.
The Moroccan government hopes the new legal text will give a strong impetus to the ongoing national project to simplify and digitize administrative procedures.
The new measures would also strengthen citizens’ trust in local administrations, Amzazi concluded.
Morocco’s administration reform
Reducing bureaucracy and digitizing administrative services has been on the forefront of Morocco’s reform projects for several years. While the reform has been ongoing at a slower pace than citizens’ expectations, the COVID-19 pandemic could be an opportunity for authorities to accelerate the change.
On May 22, Minister Benchaaboun issued a circular including a series of measures for public administrations and civil servants to implement after Morocco’s nationwide lockdown.
The measures are focused toward digitization through the generalization of online administrative services and the adoption of electronic document management systems (EDMS).
The circular also encouraged administrations to provide telephone numbers and emails to answer citizens’ inquiries.
