Brussels, 05/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - As a result of economic and environmental problems, European Parliament (EP) rapporteur Carl Haglund has come down against the one-year extension of the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco. The EP is due to vote in December on the text extending arrangement from 28 February 2011 to 27 February 2012 (the one-year extension is now being applied provisionally) to allow time to negotiate a new agreement from March 2012.
“We have a political responsibility with this agreement” Haglund noted taking the view that the situation “is rather disappointing”. The EP fisheries committee will discuss his draft report on 10 October. Discussions promise to be tense as many MEPs (especially from the EPP) are pushing for extension of the agreement.
The ex post assessment report obtained by Haglund takes stock of the first four years of operation of the fisheries agreement with Morocco. The report shows that the results of the EU-Morocco fisheries partnership agreement are “generally rather disappointing”. There are numerous problems relating to the economic aspects of the agreement. The agreement fails to fulfil two of its major objectives: stabilising the EU market and developing the fisheries sector. The cost-benefit ratio is very low due to low take-up of the fishing opportunities negotiated. The assessment report states that: “the cost of the agreement seems very high in relation to the fisheries opportunities that have actually been taken up”. The European fleets' estimated turn-over is €30.2 million, that is, only €0.83 for every euro invested by the EU. Using only the indicator of wealth created by European vessel owners subject to the agreement, an even less attractive cost-benefit ratio emerges: €0.65 in added value generated for every euro invested. The figures for the agreement with Morocco are well below the level of corresponding indicators for other fisheries agreements.
The agreement also raises environmental issues. Of the 11 demersal stocks fished in Moroccan waters, five appear to be over-exploited (European hake, Spanish seabream, octopus, squid and pink prawn), four appear fully exploited (porgy, large-eye dentext, seabream, rubber-lip grunt) and two could not be sufficiently assessed due to lack of information (black hake and squid). The almost total depletion of these stocks begs the question of whether the principle of EU vessels only fishing surplus stocks is adhered to, Haglund says.
Fishing activities of the Moroccan coast also have adverse effects on the environment, most notably through the widespread problem of discards, catches of sharks and probable catches of marine mammals by pelagic trawlers. The rapporteur noted, too, the serious legal issues in relation to the Western Sahara. The point at issue, in fact, is whether or not the agreement is of direct benefit to the Sahrawi people. The documents relating to the protocol do not allow this sensitive question to be determined. It was for that reason that several MEPs launched a call - ultimately defeated in plenary session - for the validity of the agreement to be checked by the Court of Justice of the EU.
“There are no reasons for the Parliament to give its consent the extension of a protocol to an agreement that is a waste of taxpayers' money, ecologically and environmentally unsustainable and that has no significant macro-economic effect on either the EU or Morocco”, Haglund notes in his draft report. (LC/transl.rt)