Rabat: The ties between France and Morocco can serve as a model for establishing harmonious relations between the two shores of the Mediterranean, and between Europe and Africa, Senate President G©rard Larcher said on Thursday in Rabat. “We want to place particular emphasis on innovative areas of cooperation to be explored together, but also on the new geographical horizons that are opening up for our strengthened cooperation. These new horizons look southward,” Larcher said at the opening of the Morocco-France Parliamentary Forum, which is attended by officials and members of the parliaments of both countries.
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, the new horizons of French-Moroccan ties take several shapes, all characterized by trust and friendship, Larcher noted, adding that there are multiple areas of cooperation to be explored together. The first area concerns the establishment of a new bilateral treaty with a strong parliamentary component, Larcher said, explaining that seventy years after the Declaration of Celle Saint-Cloud, France and Morocco have the opportunity to enshrine the achievements of their Reinforced Exceptional Partnership in a new treaty. “We must appreciate the full significance of this: France has only concluded such treaties with a few European countries. To date, it has concluded none with any country on the southern shore of the Mediterranean,” he added.
With regard to the second axis focusing on decentralization and decentralized cooperation in support of Moroccan regionalization, the President of the Senate indicated that regionalization is a step towards the genuine autonomy proposed by Morocco for its Southern provinces, given that “decentralization is enshrined through the diversity, unity and indivisibility of our territories, which are so dear to Morocco and France.” On this occasion, he paid tribute to the historic diplomatic success achieved by the Kingdom under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, following the adoption on October 31, 2025, by the United Nations Security Council of its Resolution 2797, enshrining the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco.
He went on to say that France will host the French-Moroccan Decentralized Cooperation Conference at the end of 2026, an opportunity to broaden the geographical scope of promising prospects for cooperation towards the South. With regard to the third axis relating to parliamentary mutual assistance, Larcher recalled that the Parliamentary Assembly of Francophonie, held in Paris last July, was a moment of complicity between France and Morocco, centered on values of democracy and the French language in a turbulent international context.
“Parliamentarians from our four assemblies can further develop their cooperation with third assemblies,” he said, while proposing, with due regard for decision-making autonomy, not a need to achieve results, but rather a necessity to consult and exchange views on sensitive issues. As for the fourth axis relating to the Mediterranean dimension, he recalled that the Moroccan Parliament has played a prominent role in various Mediterranean parliamentary bodies it had presided over, noting that these bodies are still struggling to make their voices heard.
“Thirty years after the start of the Barcelona Process, let us reflect on the contribution that our four assemblies could jointly make in the Mediterranean context in order to overcome the many challenges, particularly migration, which disrupts its shores,” he said. Emphasizing that France and Morocco are now preparing for a new era, Larcher concluded by saying that nothing can now hold the two countries from achieving great things together.