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(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, OCTOBER 13 - The two shores of the Mediterranean are even closer, thanks to a political step taken today by the European Union which granted an "advanced association status" to Morocco, a recognition from Brussels for the reforms carried out in the past years by the north-African kingdom. The agreement, the first special association status granted by the EU to a third country, was ratified today by the EU Foreign Affairs Council of Ministers, with the presence of French Foreign Minister Bernerd Kouchner, and the Moroccan plenipotentiary, Taieb Fassi Fihri. What will be the concrete changes for Morocco after this important step forward, which Rabat has been waiting for since 2004? First of all, from a political perspective, EU-Morocco summits will be organized and the two sides will put together an agreement in which the Moroccan government will be able to collaborate in European crisis management operations. Morocco will be admitted to participate in some of the meetings of EU institutions (for example, the EU Foreign Affairs Council of Ministers) and various European agencies: Europol, Eurojust, the European agency for air safety and the observatory on drugs and drug addicts. From the EU's perspective, it will be able to increase its economic aid to Rabat, which is already the top beneficiary of European funds for neighbouring countries with 657 million euro in the period of 2007-2010. The special association establishes the objective of creating a common economic space between Europe and Morocco that respects the same rules as the common European space (EU plus, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), in order to arrive - in the long term - to the progressive integration of Morocco in the internal market of the EU. Relations between Europe and Morocco have been regulated up until now by the association agreement signed in 1996 and enacted since 2000. Pleased with the strengthening of the partnership was the European Commissioner of External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "Morocco is committed in a vast series of reforms in all sectors - the Commissioner stated in a message - and has asked for stronger ties to Europe to consolidate the progress made and to give impulse to the process of modernization and democratic transition". Israel is also a candidate to obtain a special association status. (ANSAmed)