Brussels, 14/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 December, the members of the European Parliament took position against extending by one year (until February 2012) the current fisheries protocol between the European Union and Morocco, but nonetheless called on the European Commission to negotiate a new one which is more in step with environmental requirements and takes greater account of the Saharan population. The current protocol, which has been applied temporarily since 28 February 2011, expires now.
The MEPs voted against the recommendation of the committee on fisheries of the EP, which had supported the extension of the protocol by a narrow margin, thereby following the position of the rapporteur, Carl Haglund (ALDE, Finland). He called on the Parliament not to extend the current provisions, mainly for economic, ecological and legal reasons. The Parliament therefore voted 296 votes in favour of extending the protocol, 326 votes against and 58 abstentions.
“Rejecting this extension must not be seen as a hostile gesture to our partners, but should be seen as a serious growing awareness of a crucial issue”, Haglund said, stressing that he was in favour of a new agreement with Morocco, but a better one.
In a separate resolution, the MEPs stressed that a new protocol should be sustainable on the economic, ecological and social levels, and be advantageous to both sides. In the future, the distribution of fishing opportunities should be based on scientific opinions, and the boats of the European Union should only be allowed to fish stocks in surplus. The financial support allocated for the development of local fisheries should be used correctly, whereas controls on the distribution of these funds should be stepped up. The MEPs also called on the Commission to guarantee that the new protocol will fully respect international laws and bring advantages for all populations concerned, particularly the people of the Sahara. The resolution was approved by 554 votes in favour, 123 vote against and 33 abstentions.
The EP's rejection of the EU-Morocco fishing agreement “is an irresponsible decision”, said Alain Cadec (EPP, France), vice-chair on the EP's committee on fisheries. Cadec expressed consternation at the result. “It is a very negative signal that we are sending out to Morocco in the middle of the Arab Spring. The Parliament has rejected an agreement which is already in force, which expired in February 2012, that is absurd.” Aside from the economic aspect, we should support our partner during these times of democratisation, explained the MEP, who supported the agreement. It is a necessary agreement: “it allowed 10 member states of the EU to fish in Moroccan waters in exchange for a financial consideration which was used to develop the Moroccan fisheries policy throughout the Moroccan territory”. The MEP fears the full abandonment of all partnership agreements with Morocco. “The commissioner told the plenary session on Monday that if this agreement was not adopted by the European Parliament, there would be no more fisheries agreement with Morocco”, Cadec explained.
The European Commission “now needs to review its copy”, said the Greens/EFA Group at the EP. It calls on the European Commission to exclude the waters of the Western Sahara from the new EU-Morocco fisheries agreement to be negotiated. In the words of Jean-Paul Besset (Greens/EFA, France), “rejecting this fisheries agreement sends out three positive signals. We are quite right to hope for an end to this scandalous situation of an economically disastrous agreement in terms of its cost-benefit ratio, which is ecologically unsustainable as it contributes to the over exploitation of fish stocks in decline. This agreement is politically unfair, as it sacrifices the interests of the Saharan population. This victory is a hope for future negotiations.”
Maria Damanaki does not know whether there will be a new agreement. European Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki explained that she will fully respect the EP's vote. This Thursday 15 December, she will make a proposal to the Council to suspend the temporary application of the protocol. “We don't know if a new fisheries protocol with Morocco is possible. We are going to explore all possible ways forward”, Damanaki explained. In any case, if a new agreement was proposed and accepted, it would have to give convincing answers to the key issues of “environmental sustainability, economic profitability and international legality”, the commissioner added. She concluded by saying that the vote of the EP sends a strong message to the Moroccan government that it would need to engage “for a better agreement on all these issues”. (LC/transl.fl)