El acuerdo de libre comercio entre Marruecos y Estados Unidos y los actores internos no gubernamentales de la política exterior marroquí: El caso de la CGEM

Desde el punto de vista marroquí, la negociación del acuerdo de libre comercio con Estados Unidos (2003-2004) puede analizarse como un juego de dos niveles en cuya dimensión interna tuvieron cierta influencia algunos actores internos no gubernamentales. Entre ellos destaca la Confederación General de Empresarios de Marruecos (CGEM), que en los años anteriores había logrado ser reconocida como principal organización representativa de la patronal del país y asociada formalmente a la elaboración de la política económica exterior. Gracias a los mecanismos de concertación con el sector privado dispuestos por el equipo negociador marroquí, la CGEM pudo participar, con resultados desiguales, en las consultas previas destinadas a definir las propuestas marroquíes, las distintas rondas de negociación y el establecimiento de medidas de acompañamientoFrom the Moroccan point of view, the negotiation of the free trade agreement with the United States (2003-2004) can be analysed as a two-level game, for some nongovernmental domestic actors had a certain influence in its domestic dimension. The Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (CGEM), which had recently managed to be recognized as the main representative organization of Moroccan employers and to be formally associated to the policymaking process of foreign economic policy, stands out among them. Thanks to the mechanisms established by the Moroccan negotiating team in order to facilitate coordination with the private sector, the CGEM could take part, with uneven results, in previous consultations aiming to define the Moroccan proposals, in the different rounds of negotiations and in the implementation of accompanying measure

Plant biotechnology

The first decade of the 21st century has seen an intense debate of the potential contribution of Plant Biotechnology to meeting present and future world demands of food and biomass. The discussion started in 1997 when the first genetically modified (GM) crops were approved by the EPA for commercial production. The debate has been later stimulated by the increasing awareness of the potential effects of global climate change on agricultural production, as the current crops may be poorly adapted to the additional biotic and abiotic stresses caused by the change. Although cultivation of GM crops now exceeds 120 million hectares, the impact of plant biotechnology on agriculture is, surprisingly, still a matter of debate. While some groups oppose this technology for environmental and food security reasons, farmers are eager to adopt it and the overwhelming majority of scientists is demanding greater investments in plant biology and agricultural research, as well as a greater effort to translate lab results into field applications. Additionally, there is a demand to further extend plant biotechnology to other crops, such as those relevant for developing countries and those related to bioenergy production and green chemical product

Protests under Occupation: The Spring inside Western Sahara

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis (Routledge) via the DOI in this record.The emergence and empowerment of Sahrawi civil protests and pro-independence activism inside the Western Sahara territory under Moroccan occupation have to be seen in the context of varying sets of opportunity structures which this peripheral movement has actively seized in the past two decades by symbiotically combining domestic non-violent resistance and international ‘diplomatic’ activities. Different forms of recognition received from the two reference centres – the Moroccan state and the Polisario Front – plus the international community have been crucial in this process, with the last representing the most significant achievement of the movement. The Arab Spring has been a particularly fruitful window of opportunity in this regard

Juegos de espejos y espejismos en las relaciones de Marruecos con la Unión Europea: De la gestación del Estatuto Avanzado a la validación de las reformas de 2011

Este artículo presenta un análisis que disecciona el trato bilateral ventajoso que otorga la UE a Marruecos. El rol nacional de este país como alumno modelo y la dinámica intergubernamental que impulsó decisivamente el proyecto Estatuto Avanzado son los principales argumentos complementarios que se reflexionan en este artículoThis paper presents an analysis of the advantageous bilateral treatment granted by the EU to Morocco. The country's national role as a advanced student and the intergovernmental dynamics that drove decisively the project of advanced statute are the two main and complementary arguments shown in this articl

La legítima defensa del derecho penal

Este artículo busca refl exionar sobre la naturaleza, fundamentos y problematización de la legítima defensa en el Derecho penal. Esta fi gura, caracterizada por su presencia constante a lo largo de la historia y su amplio consenso en torno a su conceptualización y fundamentos, ha sufrido, no obstante, una evolución que tiene que ver con la necesidad de ponderar el criterio individual (prevalencia de los intereses del agredido) con la defensa del orden jurídico, con el objeto de encontrar una fuente de legitimidad en esta fi gura no exenta de controversia. Con el ánimo de aclarar tal controversia se indagará sobre los requisitos que se exigen para que esta fi gura pueda justifi car la realización de un hecho típico, y algunos de los problemas que esto puede ocasionar. Concretamente, sobre su extensión y el caso de la legítima defensa putativa (existencia real de la agresión y racionalidad de la defensa).This article discusses the nature, foundations and problematisation of the so-called legitimate defence in Criminal Law. This fi gure, which is very rooted in history as well as little confronted in terms of conceptualisation and arguments, has challenged, however, a certain evolution concerning the necessity to ponder the individual criteria (prevalence of the one attacked) over the overall legal discernment, aiming at adding some legitimacy to such controversial fi gure. Therefore, this article offers a discussion over the requisites that are demanded to justify a wrongdoing as well as points a number of problems for its identifi cation, mostly focused on its extension and on the case of the putative self-defence (actual aggression and defence rationality)

Morocco and the Middle East under Mohammed VI

This paper examines the broader picture of the Moroccan foreign policy towards the Middle East since the accession of King Mohammed VI to the throne in 1999. It empirically documents and analyses the overall continuity in the basic orientations of this policy, showing how stability and firmness at the level of agency have prevailed over the significant structural disruptions at the regional and global levels that occurred at the turn of the century, which also generated greater domestic tensions. Starting from the widespread perception of a certain Moroccan ‘withdrawal’ from the Arab scene and the mediation in the Middle East conflict, in comparison with the Hassan II era, the different sections address Rabat’s practices and priorities in bilateral relations with the countries of this region, including diplomatic tensions or crises with Saudi Arabia and Iran; its multilateral performance and approach to the reform of the Arab League; its stances on the Israel-Palestine conflict and ambiguous relations with Israel; the impact of the Iraq war (2003) and the increasing relevance of economic exchanges with this part of the world

Power systems with high renewable energy sources: A review of inertia and frequency control strategies over time

Traditionally, inertia in power systems has been determined by considering all the rotating masses directly connected to the grid. During the last decade, the integration of renewable energy sources, mainly photovoltaic installations and wind power plants, has led to a significant dynamic characteristic change in power systems. This change is mainly due to the fact that most renewables have power electronics at the grid interface. The overall impact on stability and reliability analysis of power systems is very significant. The power systems become more dynamic and require a new set of strategies modifying traditional generation control algorithms. Indeed, renewable generation units are decoupled from the grid by electronic converters, decreasing the overall inertia of the grid. ‘Hidden inertia’, ‘synthetic inertia’ or ‘virtual inertia’ are terms currently used to represent artificial inertia created by converter control of the renewable sources. Alternative spinning reserves are then needed in the new power system with high penetration renewables, where the lack of rotating masses directly connected to the grid must be emulated to maintain an acceptable power system reliability. This paper reviews the inertia concept in terms of values and their evolution in the last decades, as well as the damping factor values. A comparison of the rotational grid inertia for traditional and current averaged generation mix scenarios is also carried out. In addition, an extensive discussion on wind and photovoltaic power plants and their contributions to inertia in terms of frequency control strategies is included in the paper.This work was supported by the Spanish Education, Culture and Sports Ministry [FPU16/04282]