ABSTRACT
The economic relationship between the Maghribi states and the European Community (EC) is one of extreme asymmetry. The Maghribi states have nevertheless become increasingly outspoken about the EC’s lack of compliance with the 1976 pact. Maghribi agricultural products were to be given preferential access in comparison to that offered to other third countries. There have been a number of efforts to institutionalize the Maghribi-EC relationship via negotiated agreements. It would be useful to look briefly at what the Maghribi states have attained from these agreements, how the asymmetry has affected the negotiations and the outcomes, and whether the agreements have helped to reduce the asymmetry or have only served to perpetuate it. Dependency theory, of course, similarly prescribes steps to achieve dependency reversal, but as will be seen, the options for reducing asymmetrical interdependence are considerably more realistic and do not require the radical structural changes usually called for by dependency theorists.
