The EU’s Christmas dash to splash the UK’s cash in the Kasbar

EU gives £ 1/3 billion to Morocco in pre-Christmas splurge

The Kasbah in Marrakech

Committing to this expenditure before UK’s exit puts UK taxpayers on the line

Late on Friday when office Christmas parties were about to start, the EU announced its latest new spending commitments in the Arabic Kingdom of Morocco.

Announced before the UK exits the EU, this means that these commitments will form part of the EU’s Divorce Bill which it will present to the UK next year.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The new EU programmes for Morocco consist of:

€289 million “to support Morocco's reforms and inclusive development”
€101.7 million in respect of migration “as part of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa”
“A consensus was reached…” [for the current budget period] “of between €1.3 billion and €1.6 billion”

The priorities cover: i) Equitable access to basic services; ii) Support for democratic governance, the rule of law and mobility; iii) Employment and sustainable and inclusive growth.

“The European Commission is today adopting new cooperation programmes worth €389 million in support of the Kingdom of Morocco, in order to support reforms, inclusive development and border management and work towards developing a ‘Euro-Moroccan partnership for shared prosperity'.”

- Official EU Commission announcement, Fri 20 Dec 2019

[NOTE: The EU’s figures do not add up, as some readers may have noticed. The total should be €391 million.]

Examples of how the money will be spent

According to the EU Commission’s latest report (Dec 2019) which Brexit Facts4EU.Org has seen, the EU’s new largesse will be spent in Morocco on projects such as:-

€5.5 million - Fight against racism and xenophobia towards the migrant community within a human rights-based approach and gender dimension
€4.6 million - Promoting the rights of migrants to legal assistance
€7.5 million - Foster mutually beneficial legal migration and labour mobility

Some basic facts about Morocco

Morocco has the only land borders with the EU on the African continent, thanks to two small Spanish enclaves on its northern coast. Morocco disputes Spanish sovereignty and claims these areas of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the island of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and the dispute with the Spanish government continues. Morocco also claims territories on its other borders with African countries and has been involved in fighting for many years.

In its romanised form the country’s name is formally 'Al-mamlakah al-maghribiyah'. The population of 36 million is 99% Muslim, with the majority being Sunnis. King Mohammed is the head of state and has significant powers. Officially he is "Commander of the Faithful" as a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, and he presides over the Council of Ministers.

Homosexuality is illegal, as is promoting the Christian or any other faith. Press freedoms continue to be curtailed.

According to the French government in 2006, 80% of the cannabis resin in the EU comes from the Rif region in Morocco. The country is also puportedly a major transit point for cocaine from South America to enter the EU.

Morocco finally gained independence from France in 1956. According to the World Bank’s figures for last year (2018), Morocco’s GDP was $ 118.5 bn. This equates to just 4% of the size of the UK economy.

Observations

In the overall scheme of things, £ 1/3 of a billion might not sound a lot. It is therefore important to put this in context for readers.

This is merely the latest example of the EU’s continuing spending outside its borders. Almost every day the EU announces items such as this. The overall effect is an enormous sum each year. These daily announcements are never reported in the UK, of course.

EU spending like there's no tomorrow

The other key point to make is that the EU has never, ever, made any attempt to cut back its spending, knowing that the UK – its second-largest funder – is leaving. There has been no attempt to mitigate the bill which the EU will be presenting to the UK next year.

Some time ago we predicted that the EU would accelerate many of its plans before the UK left, thereby ensuring that these items would be included in the ‘divorce bill’. The latest funding will follow the usual EU pattern. It has been committed now, but the overall expenditure will continue for several years. The EU will hold the UK liable for its large share of this, even for the portions that have not even been spent.

Boris must be bold

In our view it is essential that the new administration of Boris Johnson pushes back on any EU claims for its ‘Divorce Bill’. The EU has never provided any legal justification that any monies are owing. Article 50 clearly states that on exit all obligations cease. Several times we have reported on the fact that even the Europhile House of Lords Committee found no legal claim to be substantiated.

Finally, (and in answer to readers’ emails), we will continue to publish over the Christmas period, thereby keeping up our unblemished record of 365 days-a-year of original output – the only Brexit organisation to have done this since before the Referendum.

Unfortunately we will have to review this over the festive period, unless we receive more support from the public. If you can help, quick and secure donation methods are below. Thank you.

[ Sources: EU Commission | World Bank ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sun 22 Dec 2019

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Reader Comments 5

1. Dawn H, Sunderland , Sunday, December 22, 2019, 07:12:

Very interesting article, thank you for reporting about this on a holiday weekend.
Replying to James Bertram's comment on yesterday's article, I'm sure Facts4eu would send their factsheets for Christmas to all 650 MPs if they had the funding... I sent a modest contribution to this this morning, good luck to get more. Wishing you all a nice Chrismas season!

2. Concerned but now with hope , Sunday, December 22, 2019, 08:42:

Dawn yes Facts4eu does an important job of spreading real facts something that the left, liberals and others hate. You can judge how effective those facts are by the uproar when factual things are released into the public domain.
I wish everyone who reads these factual published articles a wonderful and pleasant Christmas. We good in the new year be at the start of the pendulum finally swinging back away from political correctness, open border madness and all the other left-wing dogmas.

3. Sydney Ashurst , Sunday, December 22, 2019, 09:28:

Another fact never revealed by the BBC.
A further source of information for me is Breitbart, with: Backdoor Army: No EU ‘Military’ Yet, But Armed ‘Civilian Troops’ in ‘European Uniform.
The details about the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) are actually in POLITICO.
As part of a beefed-up mandate that came into effect this month, Frontex, the Warsaw-based EU border agency, is expanding to set up a 10,000-strong corps of border and coast guards. Along with fighting cross-border crime and terrorism, the organization plays a key role in handling one of the most contentious issues facing the EU: migration.
Schengen and the German Chancellors unilateral immigration policy has certainly created problems for the EU. The Brussels Commission solution is the creation of Frontex.
The dramatic expansion of Frontex from a staff of about 750 — decided under the EU’s previous leadership — is the result of an effort to find common ground on a highly polarizing topic that placed severe strain on the bloc during the crisis of 2015. EU leaders are divided on whether migrants and asylum seekers should be distributed across the bloc or stay in their country of arrival, but they agree that the bloc’s borders should be well-protected.
Someone has to pay, the UK more than others.

4. tarien , Sunday, December 22, 2019, 11:51:

Of course I have always been against paying any such thing as a divorce bill to that wretched lot of money wasters-it is quite incomprehensible as to why the EU should announce its intention to support Morocco with £billons- What does it really mean €5.5 million - Fight against racism and xenophobia towards the migrant community within a human rights-based approach and gender dimension- obviously not in Morocco-in Europe I assume.
€4.6 million - Promoting the rights of migrants to legal assistance-where migrants entering Europe?
€7.5 million - Foster mutually beneficial legal migration and labour mobility-who for? the UK, doubt it- completely mad-Morocco is 99% Muslim-so what will be the outcome of all this wasted money? An increase in terrorist behaviour throughout Europe-the government of Morocco must be scratching their heads or preparing to send a million or more of their Islamic brothers to Europe- I have said it before the EU through its idiotic behaviour will one way or another destroy Europe.

5. Concerned , Monday, December 23, 2019, 06:18:

Tarien 4, excellent comment. Yes I believe through their actions that is the aim "destroy Europe" without firing a shot. In that case England thank God escapes at the very last possible moment. I hope Spain and Poland and others follow post-haste. The sooner the EU dies the better for the whole of Europe. Don't get me wrong, I love Europe just as many, many leavers do - what we hate to the last man is communism under the guise of the EU.

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