Just three hours away, in the same time zone, and without significant colonial baggage, the relationship between the UK and Morocco, whilst always cordial, is way short of its potential. The sticking point – the UK as the peer-group backmarker on Rabat’s Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara. In turn, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and many other countries endorsed the Plan. Now, finally, the UK has joined that club of our most important allies.
Western Sahara – 105,000 square miles of sparsely populated desert – has been disputed since Spain abandoned its colony in 1975. The two parties in the dispute are Morocco and the Polisario Front. Morocco controls roughly 70% of the territory and the Polisario Front controls the other 30%. Morocco claims sovereignty over the Sahara while Polisario claims independence. The two ended their conflict with a ceasefire in 1991 that still holds today. But we still needed lasting peace, not just a ceasefire.
In these pages last November, I urged the Government to recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The Government has not done that. What it has done, however, is endorse Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for the region. Proposed in 2007, it is modelled on Spanish autonomy arrangements for Catalonia and overseas possessions. In a joint communique issued on 1 June, the Foreign Secretary, to his credit, added this country to the list of endorsees by describing the Plan as ‘the most credible, viable, and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution to the dispute.’
At last. Now we are back in alignment with our closest allies, seriously improving not only one of our oldest diplomatic relationships but also the chances of peace and prosperity in the Sahara and opening a host of possibilities for commerce and security.
Even more gratifying was the scope of the communique. It announced a new ‘Enhanced Strategic Partnership’ – only Whitehall mandarins could conjure a name so dull – that covered not just Western Sahara but also defence, security, agriculture, trade, the establishment of a Morocco Business Alliance, renewable energy, water resilience, scientific research, human rights, and more. That is the biggest step forward since I signed the UK-Morocco Association Agreement with Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita in 2019.
But there’s more to do. The Government can and should decide about rules of origin of goods and finalise the agricultural review. Agricultural goods are some of Morocco’s biggest exports and an obvious opportunity for trade. Take tomatoes. When our tomatoes are out of season during winter, Moroccan tomatoes are in season. Yet we still levy tariffs on those tomatoes – an unwelcome legacy of our membership of the European Union. We should remove those leftover tariffs, finish the review, and unleash free trade in agricultural produce as a prelude to wider tariff and regulatory reform.
Exploration for hydrocarbons remains at an early stage – not least because of the diplomatic wrangling over the region’s status – but some believe there are considerable reserves in Moroccan Sahara. A report from the US Energy Information Administration estimates the Tindouf Basin, much of which is in Moroccan Sahara, holds roughly 8 trillion cubic feet of shale gas and 200 million barrels of shale oil. Exploitation could transform the region’s prospects and offer opportunities for UK industrial partners.
The UK-Morocco Power Project being advanced by the company Xlinks would string an undersea cable from Western Sahara to Devon for supplying 8% of our national electricity from clean green solar and wind farms in the desert. We are just waiting for the Contract for Difference greenlight from Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary. The longer he delays, the more difficult the enterprise becomes. I have already urged him in the Commons to get the electrons flowing. Now that we have endorsed the Autonomy Plan, there can be no reason for delay. The Power Project would dramatically increase bilateral trade. Umbilically linked, the two kingdoms’ relationship would soar to the next level.
Morocco is well positioned to be the rising regional power. It is a rock of stability in a troubled continent. Terrorist organisations, organised crime, and mass migration break on that rock, before they reach Europe. We can and must stand with this stable, moderate, reliable partner African oasis.
