In 1987 the Moroccan request for membership of the European Communities (EC) was rejected on the basis that Morocco was not a European country. Where are the boundaries of Europe?

Résumé du document

The Moroccan request was rejected because Morocco was not considered as a European country. This claim was based on geographical and cultural dimensions. Morocco could not be part of the political boundaries because it did not match geographical ones and because it did not share the so-called European identity and culture. However, we can wonder if such request was so inappropriate, regarding how Europe is generally defined in terms of boundaries. As Bhambra argues it, Europe has always been considered as an idea more than a place (Hayden White). The typical representation we have of Europe is generally a definition in terms of geographical boundaries which are "natural as they come" (Outwhaite).

Whereas it is generally agreed that the western frontier is the Atlantic Ocean, that the Southern one is the Mediterranean Sea and that the northern one is the Nordic countries, the Eastern frontier is much more contested. Indeed, there is a doubt about the inclusion or the exclusion of Russia and Turkey for example, specifically because their cultural difference is source of anxiety for other European countries. Furthermore, there are other cultural issues in terms of civilization. Why Morocco is not considered as a European country although it was under European domination for decades? Likewise, Algeria was never seen as European even if it was depending upon Europe when it was a French colony.

Extraits

[...] In 1987 the Moroccan request for membership of the European Communities was rejected on the basis that Morocco was not a European country. Where are the boundaries of Europe? The Moroccan request was rejected because Morocco was not considered as a European country. This claim was based on geographical and cultural dimensions. Morocco could not be part of the political boundaries because it did not match geographical ones and because it did not share the so- called European identity and culture. [...]

[...] Indeed, Germany for instance has already made reforms to make the labour market more flexible (Chancellor Schroeder). The economic citizenship which made Europe so different from the USA (where you can have poor workers) is being challenged. Despite this of the ESM and all its differences, I think J. Wickham is right to consider it as one of the feature of the European unity. However, supranational policies may be implemented to keep the ESM as a distinctive element, especially in comparison with the USA. [...]

[...] For example, the French overseas departments are part of the political union even if they are from belonging to the so-called natural boundaries. The argument European boundaries are above all cultural is interesting: it allows rejecting countries which are external to the European civilization. Nevertheless, this idea cannot always be relevant because emergence of Modern Europe ( ) was characterized by numerous conflicts' (Mau and Verwiebe). These conflicts were cultural (religion, habits ) and ideological. This shows that if we consider ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity, European boundaries are messy (Bhambra). [...]

[...] Furthermore, this goal seems difficult to achieve because European countries have started to deregulate their labour markets: it means that they need more low-skilled jobs than high-skilled ones. The State does not intervene so much so it seems difficult to change the institutions in order to spread knowledge more easily. However, Europe (supranational scale) has started to reform its educational model because if we want more knowledge, we need better universities. Thus, national systems have been unifying (aligning qualifications, promoting mobility ) through processes such as the Bologna process or the Copenhagen process. [...]

[...] Then, the Europe 2020 strategy, decided in 2010, followed the same orientation, in order to make Europe more attractive and competitive but also to generalize education to facilitate access to tertiary education. According to J. Wickham, we are about to be a KBS. However, we can wonder if this aim is really achievable and if it can be really efficient. First of all, it would appear that it is difficult to achieve this goal in the context of globalization. Indeed, as Bell argues it, we are depending more and more on people learning knowledge but this represents only a few people. [...]