BRUSSELS, June 21 (KUNA) -- The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday welcomed the constitutional reforms proposed by Moroccan King Mohammed VI on 17 June and believed they are "a step in the right direction".
The committee meeting was attended by Moroccan minister for relations with the Parliament Driss Lachgar.
"These are reforms that other Arab countries could only dream of today. It is true that they don't meet all expectations of Moroccan protesters but they go further than we actually had expected", said Belgian MEP Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck who is the EP rapporteur on the participation of Morocco in EU programmes.
All Committee MEPs present supported the proposed constitutional reforms but raised their doubts on some sensitive issues such as the new religious powers of the king, the effective implementation of press freedom rights and the outstanding conflict of Western Sahara, it noted.
Lachgar explained that "the draft Constitution stipulates freedom in all the areas, included the right to access information. Yet your concerns mean that we need to go and rethink this issue in order to guarantee these freedoms properly". (end) nk.bs KUNA 212255 Jun 11NNNN