The 2007- 2010 NIP, which was developed to support the Action Plan adopted under the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), aims to tackle a number of challenges including notably reducing poverty and social exclusion, improving education, fighting illiteracy and promoting human rights and governance.

    The programme is also designed to back efforts targeting institutional support, economy modernization, and environment protection.

    The year 2009 was “very important” for partnership between the EU and Morocco, the report said, hailing the “positive results” posted in terms of political dialogue and in the economic and social fields.

    During the same year, the EU-Morocco summit, the first of its kind between the EU and an Arab country, was held in Granada, the report added.

    The document highlighted the Kingdom’s achievement in the field of democracy and  freedoms and its efforts in fighting corruption, recalling, in this regard, the setting up of a Central Authority for Corruption Prevention.

    Morocco is the first non-European country to become a member of the North-South Center of the Council of Europe, the report noted, underlining the key role played by the Kingdom in the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the EU-African Dialogue.

    Morocco’s resilience to the international financial crisis was also underscored in the report, which pointed to  the Kingdom’s efforts to boost agricultural production, attract investments and promote the business climate.

    The report also shed light on the elaboration of a national charter for the environment and sustainable development, as part of Morocco’s commitment to protect the environment.

    On immigration, the document welcomed the cooperation with Morocco in reducing illegal immigration, fighting organized crime and countering drug trafficking.