EU Neighbourhood Info Centre (Brussels, Belgium, August 29, 2013) — The European Commission announced today the first part of its EU-Morocco Action Program 2013, which aims to support, on the one hand, the establishment of a system of universal health coverage, and on the other, an agricultural development policy in favor of small family farming. This program, which has a total budget of €110 million, reflects the commitment of the European Union (EU) for economic and social development in Morocco.
“Our support for these two major areas of socio-economic reforms allows us to contribute to a more inclusive growth in line with the commitments made by the EU to its Moroccan partner in respect of the new approach of the European Neighbourhood Policy. These actions are also designed to meet the needs of the Moroccan population with a redistribution of the results of the growth in Morocco,” said Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy.
The program for support to the Basic Medical Coverage reform, amounting to €50 million, will support government efforts to put into practice the principle of universal access to health care consecrated in the constitutional reform of 2011. This program will support Morocco in particular for the generalization of the Plan for Medical Assistance for the Economically Disadvantaged (RAMED), the integration of persons eligible but insured by other means into the system of Compulsory Medical Insurance, and finally, the integration into the mechanism of basic medical coverage segments of the Moroccan population that do not benefit from it yet.
The program will also assist the Government in implementing an effective technical and financial management of the system of medical care and measures to improve the healthcare service to enable the health sector to cope with growing demand.
The program will be the third phase of EU support (started in 2002) to the ambitious project of establishing a universal health insurance in Morocco. The increased EU support has enabled the start of the pilot phase of the basic medical coverage for the poorest and the implementation of the components of the system of medical coverage.
The program for support to the agricultural sector policy, with a budget of €60 million, will continue to support initiatives taken by the Moroccan authorities to allow small farming agriculture to benefit from support measures with the aim of increasing productivity and creating jobs in priority agriculture sectors, improving capacities of processing, development and marketing and thus improving the incomes of small farmers.
The program will finally ensure the effective participation of small farmers in the definition of objectives and activities implemented in the framework of the Moroccan strategy for agricultural development, the Green Morocco Plan.
The program follows up on previous EU support which helped make significant improvements in production targets for certain sectors, agricultural diversification and improving the incomes of small farmers by increasing the number of working days. (EU Neighbourhood Info)
