Joint Declaration of the two Houses of the Parliament: the Moroccan Parliament Decides to Reconsider and Comprehensively Reevaluate Its Relation with the European Parliament

In light of the recent positions of the European Parliament towards our country, the two Houses of the Moroccan Parliament held, on January 23, 2023, a joint sitting that featured interventions of the Chairpersons and representatives of the various Parliamentary Groups and Caucuses and non-attached parliamentarians.

At the conclusion of the sitting, the Moroccan Parliament issued the following declaration:

"The Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco, with its two Houses, condemns the smear campaign against our country, which latest development was the adoption by the European Parliament of a recommendation on January 19, 2023. The Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco notes with strong awe and indignation this recommendation that has breached the trust between the Moroccan and European legislative institutions and violated the core of the positive accumulations accomplished over several decades.

The Moroccan Parliament regrets the compliance of the European Parliament with some hostile parties within it and its involvement in their misleading campaign that targets a long-lasting and credible partner that assumes major roles in protecting freedoms and rights, defends regional and international security and peace, and is a pillar to stability and a lever to good neighboring and understanding between peoples, civilizations, and cultures.

In view of this grievous deviation from an institution that is supposed to show prudence and ability to differentiate facts from fallacies, work on the entrenchment of the supremacy of principles, and preserve rights and laws in full respect of the sovereignty of its partner States, the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco, with all its components, confirms the following:

1. The Moroccan Parliament strongly denounces the hostile attempts to jeopardize Morocco's interests and image and the distinguished and long-standing relations between Morocco and the European Union, which are based on shared values, principles, and interests. The Moroccan Parliament also considers the European Parliament's recommendation an unacceptable overreach of its competencies and prerogatives, and a rejected transgression of the sovereignty of the Kingdom, and the inviolability and independence of its judicial institutions, expressing its unequivocal rejection of the tutelage and protectorate impulses from any party whatsoever, and regardless of the level of their relations with the Kingdom.
2. The Moroccan Parliament, with all its political components and spectra, expresses its disappointment at the negative attitude and the non-constructive role played, during the debates within the European Parliament and consultations on the draft recommendation against our country, by some political groups belonging to a country that is supposed to be a historical partner to the Kingdom of Morocco. It also laments such positions and practices that have nothing to do with the honesty and sincerity required by the spirit of partnership.
3. The Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco does not need to reaffirm the Kingdom's commitment to human rights as universally recognized. In this respect, and amidst its regional setting, the Kingdom is characterized by the dynamism of its civil society, the vitality of its media arena, the credibility of its independent institutions and mechanisms that are active in the field of individual and collective rights, as well as its resolute commitment to the relevant international instruments, and active involvement in the consolidation and strengthening of the State of institutions and rights, within the framework of political and partisan pluralism, and the freedom of opinion and expression.
4. The Moroccan Parliament recalls its keenness to preserve rights and freedoms and the means to their entire practice, exercise its legislative power, vote on laws, control Government action, and evaluate public policies. It also reiterates its competence to legislate in several areas, among which figure fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Kingdom's 2011 Constitution, notably the protection, advancement, and development of the human rights system, taking into account the universality and indivisibility of said rights.
5. Recalling that the Moroccan Parliament is a major actor in numerous continental, regional, and international parliamentary organizations and is a member within them, it, nonetheless, underscores that no partner institution has ever overstepped its competence, dared a sovereign State and its institutions or meddled in its internal affairs. On the contrary, they have been committed to respecting the Kingdom's independence and consolidating mutual institutional trust.
6. The Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco stresses that it has always been a space for multi-dimensional dialogue and communication, as it hosted several general and thematic multilateral conferences and meetings of continental, regional, and international nature that were centered around timely issues such as combatting terrorism, defending peace, democracy, migration, human rights, the environment, youth integration into development, gender equality, and other themes, and considers that many inter-institutional parliamentary projects and programs are today the subject of query and accountability in the light of the European Parliament's latest recommendation. Besides, parliamentary coordination on several questions and themes now poses a trust issue and begs the question of whether the European Parliament is still a strategic partner to the Moroccan Parliament.
7. The Moroccan Parliament rejects the exploitation and politicization of cases that are under the exclusive prerogative of criminal justice and belong to the category of common law cases, and on which sentences have been rendered on charges that are in no way linked to any journalistic activity or the exercise of the freedom of opinion and expression, but related to crimes such as human trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitation of people's vulnerability, that are penalized by the laws of all world countries. In this regard, the Moroccan Parliament stresses the imperative of respecting the inviolability and independence of Morocco's justice, which has always been keen to guarantee the conditions and fundamentals of a fair trial.
8. The European Parliament's recommendation eroded the foundations of trust and cooperation between the Moroccan Parliament and the European Parliament and infringed the positive accumulations achieved over decades of joint action, at a time when we were foreseeing new and promising prospects in the relations between the two institutions for greater efficiency and coordination for the shared benefit of our peoples.
9. The Moroccan Parliament considers that the European Parliament's recommendation has ignored all institutional mechanisms of dialogue and coordination, created mainly to be a space for comprehensive sincere dialogue within the framework of partnership and mutual respect. Thus, it has emptied them of their substance and stripped them of their purpose, hence disregarding the tenors and decisions of bilateral and multilateral meetings and the tireless efforts of the Joint Morocco-European Union Parliamentary Committee since its inception in October 2010, which has concretely entrenched the parliamentary dimension of the partnership between Morocco and the European Union, and played a major role in solidifying and institutionalizing the ties between the Moroccan and European Parliaments.
10. The Moroccan Parliament calls on the European political forces to show wisdom and acumen, and reject the deliberate confusion between the human rights protected in Morocco via the Constitution, laws, and institutions, on the one hand, and the implausible allegations of certain bodies and organizations known for their hostile attitudes against Morocco, on the other.

Based on the foregoing, the Moroccan Parliament, with its two Houses, has decided that, starting today, it will:

- Reconsider its relations with the European Parliament and reevaluate them comprehensively to take adequate vigorous decisions;

- Notify the Presidency of the European Parliament of the minutes of this sitting, which will include the positions and interventions of all the Chairpersons and representatives of the Parliamentary Groups and Caucuses and non-attached parliamentarians;

- Notify the Presidency of the European Parliament of all the decisions that will be taken later.

Rabat on January 23, 2023