ECOWAS: Maghrebian Regimes Head Southward

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS comprising 15 countries) has agreed in principle to Morocco’s accession request at a summit in Monrovia on Sunday, according to the final communiqué.

Among the topics on the agenda, West African leaders had to consider Morocco’s application for membership, which has been officially a candidate since February, following its return to the African Union in January, Observer for Tunisia, and to decide on an association agreement with Mauritania.

They “expressed support for the request of the Kingdom of Morocco, given its strong and multidimensional links with the member states”.

The Heads of State “instructed the Commission to examine the implications of an accession of the Kingdom of Morocco to the provisions of the ECOWAS treaties and to submit its conclusions” to the next summit of the organization, according to the text”.

The political sequence (of the accession of Morocco) has just ended, it paves the way for a legal sequence which will make this accession effective, and then a technical sequence will have to be negotiated sector by sector”, explained a high-ranking diplomatic source.

“West Africa will be a key player in inter-African relations and the challenges of the continent,” the source said.

Regarding the association agreement with Mauritania, the heads of state considered that to benefit from it, the country, a former member of ECOWAS, should instead “apply for full membership,” the statement said.

Mauritania left ECOWAS in 2000, preferring its membership of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), which it shares with Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.

The West African leaders, on the other hand, approved Tunisia’s request for observer status, subject to verification by the Commission of ECOWAS of compliance with its rules in this matter.

The Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) further expressed on Sunday in Monrovia its “preoccupation” at the spread of terrorist attacks in the region and reiterated its “total solidarity” with the Countries affected by terrorism.

It reaffirms its determination to “continue unremittingly the fight against terrorism and welcomes the efforts made by member states to prevent and deal steadfastly with this scourge”, the final communiqué of the summit said.