Brussels, 25/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The four-year agreement sealed on Wednesday 24 July in Rabat between Morocco and the EU on access by Community fishing fleets to waters off the Atlantic coast of Morocco (but not covering the Mediterranean waters of Morocco) is only a first stage in a long procedure (see EUROPE 10895). There will no doubt be further developments on this issue.
In December 2011, the European Parliament rejected renewal of the former agreement. The main reason at the time was the delimitation of fishing zones covering the waters of the Sahara, whether disputed or not, financial compensation and accompanying measures. The texts initialled on Wednesday remain confidential and will only be published once they are approved by the Moroccan parliament and the European Parliament, which is already something that the Polisario Front condemns in a press release.
The specific clause is in line with international law, is all that the spokesman of Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki, Oliver Drewes, states. He reserves his comments to the “technical” chapter alone and indicates that the memorandum of understanding addresses the request made by the European Parliament and the member states and is conceived in the context of the new EU common fisheries policy. It therefore meets the requirements of “responsible management” of resources and will be to the benefit of the local populations, the spokesman says.
Drewes points out that the question of financial compensation comprises a new element, namely the duty of shipowners to contribute up to €10 million of the total amount agreed (€40 million for Morocco). After the summer break, member states will also have to decide on the breakdown of quotas decided and this means that fishing activity will not resume immediately. Drewes does not wish to say more on points linked to the (political) delimitation of fishing zones and gives his assurance that the European Parliament and the member states will have to judge what has been agreed with Morocco.
For now, there has been very little reaction to this, given that the European Parliament has been on parliamentary vacation since 22 July. The only reaction for now comes from Rachida Dati (EPP, France) who “wishes, in particular, to pay tribute to the dignity shown by our Moroccan partner who has accepted this agreement, after the shameful rejection of the protocol by the European Parliament end 2011. One should also remember that this agreement is first and foremost to the benefit of the European fishing sector. It is therefore a new sign of confidence that Morocco is showing to the European Union. That confidence is precious. It should not be abused again”.
Dati “warns” her MEP colleagues who “are hoping to instrumentalise this agreement once again” and “provoke a whole country, to which we granted advanced status five years ago and with which we have begun talks for a free-trade agreement. Morocco is one of our closest allies. The initialling of a fair and balanced protocol today must mean the end of an unfortunate saga that has not been to the honour of either the European Parliament or, by extension, of the whole of Europe”.
“Shameful procedure” that disregards Sahara law
In a press release, the Polisario Front denounces the “shamefully secretive procedure” behind the agreement. The Polisario representative with the EU, Mohamed Sidati, tackles the Commission, saying it “is attempting to rush the European Union into a flawed and illegal arrangement with Morocco, which will resume the unacceptable practice of Moroccan authorities profiting from the waters of the illegally occupied Western Sahara by charging EU vessels to fish there”. Sidati expects the European Parliament and member states will react similarly to their reaction in December 2011 which resulted in the revocation of the previous EU-Morocco agreement due, precisely, to its annexes on the Sahara when, he stresses, “no country in the world recognises Morocco's claim to Western Sahara”. “This attempt to legitimise the theft of Western Sahara's natural resources detracts from the ongoing efforts by the United Nations to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing occupation of Western Sahara”, Polisario states, adding: “Nor will the ineffective human rights provision in the new protocol help the situation of the Saharawi people, who continue to be oppressed on a daily basis by the forces of Moroccan occupation”. (FB/transl.jl)