The EU will support immigration and asylum policy of Morocco in a significant way and plans to launch next year a program of 10 million Euros, said the spokeswoman of European Commissioner, Natasha Bertaud

"Morocco is the first country in North Africa to develop a genuine immigration policy including the establishment of an Office for Refugees, the implementation of a system to combat trafficking in persons, and we want to join these efforts," said Ms. Bertaud.

Ms. Bertaud further stated that since the signing in June 2013 of a mobility partnership between Morocco and the EU, a series of actions were carried out by the EU, the nine participating Member States and the specialized agencies of the EU to give substance to this agreement, which marks the beginning of a long and close cooperation on migration between the two parties.

In this regard, she noted that a project called "Sharaka 'for an amount of 5.2 million Euros was released last September to support the government of Morocco, particularly to analyze best practices on migration and development and give them more importance.

This project also aims to help Morocco to develop, in cooperation with European countries, ways for better access of Moroccan workers in the European market for employment and improve services for Moroccan immigrants who wish to move to Morocco and capitalize on the skills they learned abroad

The spokesman also announced that Morocco and the EU will soon hold a meeting in Rabat to discuss of the priorities for cooperation on migration, and exchange of information on the latest developments affecting this cooperation, including progress in implementing the new Moroccan migration policy and the results of the Ministerial Conference, scheduled next Thursday.