For several months now, Paris has been actively urging the European Union to redefine its industrial strategy. The French government contends that European competitiveness can no longer solely rely on open markets and global competition. Instead, it necessitates a robust industrial policy, a clear European preference in strategic sectors, and a deliberate reduction of dependencies, particularly on China. Within the European Commission, Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné is championing the proposed regulation for industrial acceleration. Despite internal compromises that have scaled back its initial ambitions, France maintains an assertive stance. It is now pushing to broaden the scope of this legislation: mechanisms for European preference in public procurement, purchasing, and subsidies would extend beyond clean technologies, energy-intensive industries, and electric vehicles to encompass vital sectors such as shipbuilding, railway equipment, and the chemical industry.
These very sectors are precisely where Franco-Moroccan industrial cooperation is most advanced. Indeed, France likely stands as the EU member state whose productive apparatus is most intricately linked with that of Morocco. This unique integration shapes France’s position: Paris advocates for a demanding “Made in Europe” while having cultivated, over two decades, a co-industrialization strategy with a non-EU nation. In the automotive industry, Renault’s plants in Tangier and Stellantis’s facilities in Kenitra now function as direct extensions of French production lines. Component manufacturers in Morocco supply parts directly to European industrial sites. A similar dynamic is evident in the aerospace sector, where companies like Safran, Daher, and Latécoère have progressively integrated Moroccan industrial capacities into their value chains. The Kingdom of Morocco has evolved beyond a mere subcontracting hub; it now directly contributes to the competitiveness of French and wider European industrial output. This integration is currently expanding into even more strategic areas, including batteries for electric vehicles, green hydrogen, critical materials, port infrastructure, and digital technologies.
“France is probably the EU member state whose productive apparatus is most intertwined with Morocco’s”
Paris’s objective is not to isolate Europe, but to prevent a broad “Made with Europe” concept – one that might indiscriminately encompass all eighty or so of the Union’s commercial partners – from diluting the essence of European preference. France advocates for a more discerning approach: distinguishing between countries that genuinely contribute to European competitiveness and supply security, and those that remain external suppliers, or even pose a threat to European sovereignty.
To what extent can this vision gain broader acceptance? By mid-July, the 27 member states will be invited to conduct an initial political assessment of the ongoing work within the Council on the industrial acceleration regulation. Germany’s stance will be pivotal. Berlin has historically viewed French proposals for European industrial preference with reservation. Germany’s powerful export sector feared trade restrictions from Beijing and potential Chinese retaliation against its automotive industry. However, under the pressure of an unprecedented industrial crisis and a domestic political debate intensified by the rise of the AfD, Germany can no longer simply champion classical free trade. Could a selective opening to trusted partners represent a viable compromise between Paris and Berlin? This very notion will determine the future trajectory of the Franco-Moroccan industrial partnership. While France has never officially requested Morocco’s inclusion among future trusted partners, its entire industrial and diplomatic strategy positions the Kingdom as a natural candidate for such a designation.
The battle will also unfold in the European Parliament, where two French rapporteurs hold influential positions in the examination of the regulation. A particular responsibility will fall upon them, and upon the French delegations: to ensure that the new regulatory boundaries being drawn by the Union do not inadvertently undermine the future of the vital Moroccan-French industrial partnership.