Spanish MEP Asks EU Commission to Review Migration Cooperation with Morocco

Rabat – Jordi Canas, a Spanish Member of the European Parliament (MEP), has criticized Morocco’s control over its borders and asked the European Commission to review its migration-related agreement with the North African country.

The Spanish MEP’s comments come on the heels of reports that 850 irregular migrants last week crossed to the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco. As the spokesperson for International Trade in the European Parliament, Canas has notably demanded that the European Commission review aid allocated to Morocco for border protection.

But the Spanish MEP’s harsh criticism of the current state of border management directly contradicts the Spanish governments’ statements on the issue.

Spain’s Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has stated that cooperation with Morocco on migration issues is “perfect,” citing recent collaboration between the countries’ security forces in successfully thwarting migration attempts in Melilla.

For Canas, however, the European Commission should introduce measures to ensure that Morocco “fulfills the commitments for which it receives huge amounts of European money,” including border control.

According to the EFE, Morocco prevented today more than 1,000 migrants from forcing their way into Melilla. This directly contradicts Canas’ criticism of Morocco’s supposed mismanagement of its border with Spain.

With “Morocco exerting political pressure against a State of the Union,” Canas argued, last week’s events in Melilla join a long list of border breaches on both the Spanish and Moroccan sides.

Morocco has received approximately MAD 139.75 billion (€13 billion) in European aid since 2007, and roughly MAD 2.68 billion (€250 million) between 2018-2021, in order to ensure border control and safety, the MEP noted.

However, he argued in typical Morocco-bashing fashion, Rabat has not kept its end of the border management deal with Brussels.

“Given that Melilla is the external border of the Union whose protection and security concerns the Union as a whole, and given Morocco’s repeated breach of its commitments to the EU in terms of migratory mobility and border control, what measures will the Union take? Commission so that Morocco fulfills the commitments for which it receives huge amounts of European public money?” he complained.

It is not the first time that MEPs from Citizens, Canas’s political party, have raised such demands to the European Commission in the face of what the Spanish party considers “Moroccan blackmail.”

José Ramón Bauzá, another MEP from Citizens, asked the European Parliament on May 26, 2021 for measures to strengthen migration control at the border and for guarantees that Morocco would comply with its obligations.

The Citizens MEP succeeded in mobilizing the European Parliament to adopt a resolution condemning Morocco for allegedly using the migration card for political purposes during the irregular migration of thousands of Moroccans to Ceuta between 17-18 May 2021.

Beyond presenting Morocco as an unreliable partner for the EU, the Spanish political party frequently seeks to stir diplomatic unrest between Spain and Morocco. However, despite recent tensions, the Spanish government continues to remain adamantly positive about the future of its bi-lateral relationship with Morocco