The crisis affecting Europe is contrasted with the dynamism of the Maghreb, where measures promoting relocation are flourishing, such as the free zones where the French textile and automobile industries have set up shop.
Due to its geographical position and history, the Maghreb acts as a real link between Europe and Africa. But for France, this region also constitutes a first-rate investment and cooperation zone, where economic and geostrategic challenges are combined.
Cartographic study carried out for the Res Publica Foundation by Kevin Limonier, research fellow and higher education instructor, French Institute of Geopolitics (Paris 8 University), and David Amsellem, doctoral student-research fellow at the Center for Research and Geopolitical Analysis (CRAG), Paris VIII University.
France and the Maghreb countries share a significant community of interests whose roots go deep into history. But today, this community is being renewed in light of the challenges that both sides of the Mediterranean must face. These are of course economic issues: the crisis affecting Europe is contrasted by the dynamism of a Maghreb where mechanisms promoting relocations are flourishing, such as the free zones where the French textile and automobile industries have set up shop.
Beyond production, the notable presence of French companies in the region is a sign of its attractiveness.
But this presence, which is largely based on SMEs, is above all the mark of a real link between France and the south of the western Mediterranean, maintained by an undeniable cultural and linguistic proximity. Cooperation therefore goes far beyond economic issues to be anchored in a shared experience that the dynamism of university and scientific agreements allows to be considered from the angle of intellectual proximity.
The security challenges facing the Sahel countries also constitute an important vector of cooperation with the Maghreb. The latter constitutes, by its geographical position, an important point of support for French interventions in the region: during the French intervention in Mali for example, the assistance of the Moroccan and Algerian authorities trained to fight mobile groups in sparsely populated areas was useful in the fight against AQMI and allied groups, whose zone of influence crosses the southern borders of the Maghreb.
