Melilla Opens EU Office to Diversify Economy and Reduce Moroccan Dependence

To reduce its dependence on Morocco, which has closed its commercial customs since 2018, blocking the flow of goods, Melilla has decided to turn to Europe to diversify its economy. On Tuesday, the city authorities concluded an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the opening of a delegation within the representation of Spain to the EU (REPER), reports El Periódico de Espana. For the President of Melilla, the opening of this office aims to give visibility to the autonomous city and bring it closer to Europe.

It is the culmination of two years of efforts, trips and meetings at all levels to ensure that the voice of Melilla is heard and taken into account in the European Union, said Eduardo de Castro. Melilla thus becomes the seventh community to open an office within REPER, after Andalusia, Madrid, Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. Melilla had sent a letter to the government, asking it to take advantage of the EU presidency to join the Council of Regions, an important advisory body on investment and projects.

Rabat and Madrid have agreed to put an end to the atypical trade (smuggling) at the Melilla border, resulting in tens of millions of euros in losses for the inhabitants who lived from this trade. In addition, passenger traffic from Morocco to Ceuta and Melilla has also dropped considerably, from around 30,000 Moroccans before the Covid-19 pandemic, to around 3,000 currently. The reason, the strengthened restrictions and passport controls at the borders which have become more orderly, to the great detriment of the inhabitants of Ceuta and Melilla and the neighboring Moroccan cities of Tetouan and Nador.

The two autonomous cities have also asked the government to take steps for their entry into the EU customs union, as long as this does not affect their special economic and tax regime. Like his predecessors, the government of Pedro Sanchez would not dare to engage in such a process in order to avoid irritating Morocco. "Rabat is always reluctant to make Ceuta and Melilla more European, because if we are more Europe, we are also more Spain, and that complicates their claims," Eduardo de Castro had said.