Relations between the European Parliament and Morocco are nosediving, jeopardising agreements on trade, energy and migration, The fall-out from the Qatargate scandal is tarnishing both the European Parliament, the European Union s legislature, and Morocco s security services. It will also complicate efforts by the European Commission, the EU s executive arm, to strengthen ties with Rabat on security and trade.
The monarchy has deftly marginalised Islamist parties through a mixture of intimidation and co-optation, The Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD) members of former Prime Minister Saad Eddine el Othmani s government suffered a string of policy humiliations as ministers aligned with King Mohammed VI (M6) s ruling Makhzen (establishment) reasserted their dominance of Moroccan politics a decade after political reforms in the wake of the Arab Spring demonstrations in 2011.