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The United States is forging ahead with a bold strategy to encourage private investment in Morocco’s southern provinces, a move that starkly contrasts with the European Union’s fragmented stance, a Carnegie Endowment For International Peace analyst said.
While Washington seeks tangible economic returns and a clear diplomatic signal, Brussels remains entangled in internal divisions over the status of the Sahara, Sarah Yerkes of the Washington-based Think Tank told Moroccan daily Assabah.
“The American decision reflects a pragmatic effort to translate the Trump administration’s 2020 recognition of Moroccan sovereignty into economic action,” Yerkes said in the interview with Assabah.
She explained that the US favors private sector engagement over traditional aid or diplomacy, using investment as a tool to reinforce its political position. “It’s a practical strategy aimed at benefiting American investors,” she noted.
Meanwhile, the EU’s multilateral nature complicates its response. “Member states hold differing views on the Sahara, which forces the Union to adopt a more restrained and consensus-driven approach,” Yerkes said.
The EU’s heavy weights including Spain, Germany, the Netherlands in addition to Portugal, Hungary and a growing number of European nations back Morocco’s autonomy plan. France, The EU’s second largest economy, recognizes the Sahara as Moroccan.
Morocco and the EU have renewed their agricultural trade deal which includes products from the Sahara territory, dealing a blow to pro-separatist groups who have challenged the deals.
In 2023, the UK’s judiciary has dismissed a case brought by lobbyists in favor of the Polisario and Algeria who wanted to exclude Sahara products from a trade deal with Morocco.
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