Announcing the establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union at the conclusion of a summit between the five countries in the city of Marrakesh (social networking sites - archive)
A few days ago, the Speakers of Parliament in both Morocco and Mauritania issued a statement in which they affirmed Rabat and Nouakchott’s adherence to the Arab Maghreb Union, and stressed that Maghreb integration is an irreversible option.
These statements came at the conclusion of a visit made by the Speaker of the Moroccan Parliament to Nouakchott, coinciding with the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union, whose establishment was announced in Marrakesh, Morocco, on February 17, 1989.
The statements also coincided with many problems known to member states, the most important of which are the security events in the Sahel, which directly affect Mauritania, Algeria, and Libya, the economic and political crisis in Tunisia, and the freezing of relations between Morocco and Algeria.
The countries forming the Arab Maghreb Union are Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Libya, with a population of about 120 million people, an area of 6 million square kilometers, or 40% of the area of the Arab world, and their foreign exports amounting to 47.5 billion dollars.
Texts and institutions
According to the founding treaty, the Maghreb Union was based on ambitious goals aimed at advancing the economic sector and unifying foreign visions and positions on international issues.
The most important goals stipulated in the Founding Charter are: strengthening the bonds of brotherhood that bind members and their peoples, contributing to the maintenance of peace based on justice and equity, and pursuing common policies in various fields.
One of the main objectives of the Maghreb Union is to work to achieve reconciliation between member states, and to strive to establish close diplomatic cooperation based on constructive dialogue.
The Union aims to develop education at all levels, preserve the spiritual and moral values derived from the tolerant teachings of Islam, preserve the Arab national identity, and take the necessary means to achieve these noble goals.
In order to achieve these goals, the organizational structure included 15 mechanisms distributed among committees and institutions specialized in specific fields, such as the Presidency Council, specialized ministerial committees, the General Secretariat, the Food Security Committee, and the judicial body of the Moroccan Union.
The headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab Maghreb Union is located in Rabat, while Algeria hosts the headquarters of the Shura Council, the headquarters of the Union’s judicial body is located in Nouakchott, Tunisia hosts the Maghreb Bank, and in the capital, Tripoli, the headquarters of both the Moroccan Academy and the Arab Maghreb University are located.
The headquarters of the Arab Maghreb Union in Rabat (social networking sites)
Faltering march
However, these bodies that still exist do not currently have a tangible impact on the ground, and have not contributed to overcoming the obstacles that prevent economic integration and security and political cooperation.
Although the Maghreb Union was founded 35 years ago, and was based on the idea of unity and economic and cultural integration as a gateway to political and military integration, its progress stopped before it could begin and achieve part of the goals announced at the founding conference.
As a result of the Western Sahara crisis, political differences deepened between member states, and prevented the progress of the administrative entity that includes the five countries located in the western part of the Arab world.
Relations between Libya and Tunisia also witnessed a lot of cooling during the era of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and were not at the level required by the logic of integration and cooperation.
The last presidential summit bringing together Moroccan leaders was in Tunisia in 1994, and since then the leaders have been unable to overcome political differences and meet again.
Failed attempts
After the Tunis summit, Algeria assumed the rotating presidency of the Union, and was unable to organize a presidential summit on its soil, despite the efforts it made in 2003.
Gaddafi sought by all means to have his country host a summit of leaders in 2005, but he failed to do so, and he announced his intention to withdraw his country from a union that had been in existence for 10 years at the time, and whose members were unable to sit at one table, but he retracted his decision after great pressure from his Moroccan counterparts.
In 2012, the then Moroccan Foreign Minister, Saadeddine El Othmani, presented proposals to reform the Maghreb apparatus, the most important of which was changing its name from the Arab Maghreb Union to the Maghreb Union, a proposal that Tunisia and Mauritania agreed to, while Algeria and Libya objected to.
Realizing the need to revive it, in 2012, former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki undertook a tour that included the Maghreb countries, with the aim of bringing views closer to activating the institution, and sought to convene a summit of leaders.
Marzouki believed at the time that the Arab Spring could be the beginning of the revitalization of the Arab Maghreb Union, in order to realize the dream of peoples eager for rapprochement and convergence, and he came up with the idea of freedoms that could be a tool for communication between the peoples of the Maghreb countries, which are freedom of movement, residence, work, investment, and the right to participate in municipal elections for all citizens. The five countries, but these ideas and endeavors did not find a way to be implemented due to the gap between the leaders of the member states.
As for Moroccan King Mohammed VI, in 2014, he called for the activation of the Arab Maghreb Union Foundation.
In November 2018, Algeria requested a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Arab Maghreb Union in order to continue the path of the “Maghreb edifice,” according to a statement by Algerian diplomacy.
In March 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied said during his visit to Libya that the time had come to revive the institution of the Arab Maghreb Union.
In April 2021, the Libyan Presidential Council called for activating the union and returning to its meetings, but these calls and initiatives aimed at revival remained hidden among the files of hopes and dreams.
Can the economy fix what politics has ruined?
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Professor of International Relations at Chinguetti University, Dr. Mohamed Ould Abdallah, said that activating the union has become more necessary than ever due to the security and economic challenges that the region is going through.
He added that the economic movement and commercial activity among some member states makes the ground suitable for activating the Maghreb system.
In recent years, trade relations between Nouakchott and Algeria have witnessed a significant improvement, according to which the trade exchange index between the two parties increased from $50 million in 2021 to $187 million in the first half of 2023.
The road linking Tindouf, Algeria, and Zouerate, Mauritania was recently inaugurated with the aim of streamlining economic activity, and the free trade zone between the borders of the two countries will contribute to creating multiple activities.
As for Mauritania and Morocco, the volume of trade exchanges between them increased by 58% in 2022, and reached $300 million, according to data from the Moroccan embassy in Nouakchott.
Tunisia and Algeria are linked by various economic partnerships that include the fields of energy, electricity, and other commercial projects.
On the sidelines of the businessmen's forum held in Algeria in October 2023, Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Abdel Rahman said that the volume of trade exchange with Tunisia outside the hydrocarbons sector grew by 54% in 2023.
Many observers believe that these commercial activities, if exploited within a Maghreb framework, will contribute to the recovery of the economy of the Maghreb countries, reduce the unemployment rate among youth, and create many economic opportunities.
Source: Al Jazeera