Brussels, 14/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - MEP José Bové (Greens/EFA, France) is trying to convince the different political strands in the European Parliament (EP) to reject the free trade agreement between the EU and Morocco. The agreement was approved by the EU Council of Ministers on 17 December 2010 and is due to be put to the vote in the EP in June of this year. The Parliament's international trade committee will vote in March on Bové's draft report on the agreement.
“I will propose to my colleagues that they do not pass” the agreement in its current form. “Then I will ask the European Commission to carry out a proper evaluation of the first phase of liberalisation. Depending on the outcome, there will have to be transparent renegotiation, making sure that the interests of family-run farming in both Morocco and Europe are taken into count,” Bové says in a press release. (L.C./transl.rt)