Lesueur, a general delegate at the Thomas More Institute, said the EU had a role to play in putting an end to the conflict between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara, a 266,000 square-kilometre territory that has been a bone of contention between the two countries.

According to him, the new distribution of portfolios within the European Commission should accelerate progress, as several commissioners are concerned by the issue. He also proposed to appoint a coordinator.

"We urge the EU to reinvest itself in the region and place its relations with the Maghreb at the top of its agenda," he said.

Moreover, "the EU should help projects and business development," he said, stressing the importance of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), launched in 2008 under the French EU Presidency.

On migration, Lesueur explained that Morocco had problems similar to those faced by Europe in dealing with its southern neighbourhood. As sub-Sahel migrants move north to reach Europe, "Maghreb countries are transforming themselves into transit countries, and are also slowly turning into host countries," he said, remarking that thousands of Senegalese are currently living in Algerian capital Tangiers.

This, he argued, highlights the common challenges faced by Europe and the Maghreb, as he says the countries in the region may soon start experiencing ethnic tensions and even racism.

To deal with such problems, Lesueur says the EU's Frontex agency should open offices in the South Sahel region and work in close cooperation with Maghreb countries. "It is not sufficient to return illegal migrants from Spain to Morocco," he stressed.

In reality, he said the EU's migration policy "is being played out in Nouakchott [Mauritania] and Dakar [Senegal]," not on the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily. "Lampedusa represents the failure of the EU's migration policy," he said.

Similarly, he said European security and anti-terrorism policy is not being played out at the EU's southern borders, but 3,000 kilometres away. "In the anti-terrorism area, Algeria and Morocco have pretty well cleared Al Qaeda off the ground," he remarked. But the organisation has now retreated further south to Mali, Cameroon and Senegal, he said.

So the EU is beginning to act protecting countries which are not inside the EU. I think we have enough problems inside our borders which are not solved by now, to defend countries which are not inside those borders. But I'm sure this is just the next step after the "United Economic Space", negotiated with Morocco.

There are a lot of people worried about Turkey entering EU. Morocco should also worry every free citizen: a theocracy with no possibility of changing into a democracy, expelling Christians for "proselityzing", mistreating homosexuals, opponents to the regime (specially Saharauis) or who demonstrate against fasting in Ramadan and shutting down (or banning) MSM for insulting Islam or the King. An ideal partner...

Of course, Algeria has also a growing problem with Islamism and has condemned people to three years in prison for owning a Bible. So, I don't think it's an ideal partner either.

Besides, if Islam/Shariah is the Law's source in these states, I'm sure the measures taken will be different. Or not?