Today, in an official visit in Morocco, Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi announced new cooperation programmes worth €624 million in total to support Morocco's transition to green energy, enhance cooperation on addressing irregular migration management and support Morocco's ambitious reform plans in key areas such as social protection, climate policy, reform of the public administration and the judiciary systems.

The new assistance package signed today comprises five programmes:

- Reinforcing social protection - The “KARAMA” programme, worth €130 million, will support a major Social Protection reform, including specific actions to ensure a fair access to universal health cover, family allocations, unemployment insurance and pensions for the Moroccan population.

- Supporting the green transition - the programme “Terre Verte”, worth €115 million, aims at supporting Morocco's agriculture and forestry strategies  as well as improving decent employment, ‘green' entrepreneurship, and the social security coverage of workers.   

- Addressing irregular migration- A €152 million comprehensive programme on migration will strengthen Morocco's border management actions in the fight against smuggling networks, the National Strategy of Morocco on Immigration and Asylum,  as well as the voluntary return and the reintegration of migrants to their countries of origin, in accordance with international standards in terms of Human rights.

- Supporting the Reform of the Public Administration - A €50 million programme will strengthen the access to and quality of public services for citizen and business, through the simplification and digitalisation of administrative procedures, the increased transparency and monitoring of the quality of public service delivery.

- Enhancing Financial Inclusion - A €51 million programme will support the Moroccan National Strategy for Financial Inclusion that aims to increase access to finance for MSMEs and start-ups and targets in particular vulnerable populations such as youth, women and people leaving in rural areas.