Morocco, Sustainable and Stable Alternative for Europe’s Energy Sovereignty (De Tijd)

Brussels – Europe should, in a situation marked by the urgency of asserting its energy independence, turn to Morocco as a sustainable and stable alternative to ensure its economic sovereignty, wrote Friday the Belgian daily “De Tijd”.

In an article written by the Dutch-speaking expert Fouad Gandoul, the daily specialized in economics, stressed that faced with the limitation of gas and oil exports from Russia, Europe needs a new energy option.

“There is indeed a sustainable and stable alternative, on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar: Morocco,” said the author of the article, noting that this is possible for Europe if it drastically increases the share of renewable energy in the energy mix by taking advantage of the vast solar potential that the Kingdom has. Also, unlike a tumultuous neighborhood, it”meets the criteria of security and stability that justify a massive investment policy”.

Morocco, added the newspaper, is the only country in Africa to have the expertise in research and development for renewable energy and industrial processes associated.

De Tijd mentioned in this context, the development potential of hydrogen in Morocco, highlighting the interest of some European countries such as Germany to develop this niche with the Kingdom, concretized by a bilateral agreement signed in June 2020.

The Belgian-Moroccan political expert noted that recent positive developments in the relations of Morocco with Germany and Spain open the way to further economic and scientific cooperation.

The author also recalled the U.S. position on the territorial integrity of the Kingdom, reaffirmed by the Biden administration, and those of Germany and Spain recently, concluding that “if there was still ambiguity about the status of the Sahara, it is now a thing of the past”.