Morocco and European partners have launched a transformative initiative to bolster the Kingdom’s water security amid worsening climate pressures. On June 2, 2026, in Rabat, the Ministry of Equipment and Water, alongside the European Union, Germany, Italy, and France, unveiled a €348 million support package for the National Water Plan (PNE), designed to strengthen resilience against droughts, floods, and groundwater depletion.

The launch event was attended by the Minister of Economy and Finance and senior EU representatives, marking a concrete step in the ‘Team Europe’ approach that aligns financial and technical resources from the EU and its member states for strategic projects.

Funding includes €48 million in EU grants, supplemented by €3 billion in concessional loans from Germany’s KfW, Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), and France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which leads the initiative. The program targets four critical areas: enhancing water resource assessment under climate change, improving management of extreme weather events, protecting groundwater reserves, and building institutional capacity.

Technical assistance will play a key role in achieving these goals, fostering knowledge exchange between Moroccan and European experts. Minister Nizar Baraka emphasized that water is both a national heritage and a strategic sovereignty issue, highlighting Morocco’s proactive approach to climate adaptation through gradual reform of its water governance model.

For the EU, the initiative reflects its commitment to supporting Morocco’s sustainable resource management. The EU Ambassador to Morocco, Dimiter Tzantchev, noted that the program aligns with the Morocco-EU Green Partnership and the Mediterranean Pact, prioritizing climate resilience and water governance in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. The ‘Team Europe’ model, he added, enables the pooling of complementary financial and technical resources to address shared climate challenges.

Morocco, like much of the Mediterranean, faces mounting water stress. Severe droughts between 2017 and 2025 have intensified pressure on resources, while rising demand from population growth and economic development continues to strain supply. This new program complements existing efforts under the National Water Plan and the 2020-2027 National Drinking Water and Irrigation Program (PNAEPI).

Ambassadors from Germany, Italy, and France praised the initiative as a potential regional cooperation model. Germany’s KfW will focus on climate adaptation and groundwater protection, Italy will leverage its expertise in water management and gender equality, while France’s AFD will ensure program implementation integrates climate resilience and gender mainstreaming.