The negotiation mandate for the EU/Morocco agricultural agreements, imposed by a judgment of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) of December 2016, establishing a separation between the recognised territories of Morocco and those of the Western Sahara (see EUROPE 11694), is reported to go no further than to modify or adapt the texts.
This mandate will cover only the scope of application of the protocol to the Western Sahara and the extension of tariff preferences to products from the southern regions, the Saharawi territory, according to the specialist bulletin 'AgriMaroc'. It also stresses that the Court's decision requires the agreement of the local Saharan population, with a monitoring mechanism demonstrating the benefits of the agricultural protocol on local populations to be set in place.
The newspaper L'Économiste has reason to believe that the negotiations are likely to take at least a year after the approval of the European Parliament. However, for the time being, no agenda has as yet been put forward, the newspaper goes on to report, stressing that the European mandate is a point in favour of the commitments made by the Europeans.
The media have made much of statements by Commissioner Vella, who argues that the coastal waters of the Sahara are covered by the fishing agreement (see EUROPE 11799).
This extension of the adaptation timetable will probably provide enough time to calm things down. The hostile reactions of members of the European Parliament come on top of those of the member states, which are known to have struggled to approve the negotiation mandate. These include the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, L'Économiste confirms, to say nothing of Spain, which has an attitude of ambivalence.
This extra time will also move the parties closer to the dates agreed to renew the agreements or the revision clauses for a technical update, for which there appears to be a need. Apart from the Saharawi dossier, Morocco is complaining, as it did recently, about its goods traffic, mainly agricultural, being held up when crossing Spanish territory. Spanish licences are reported to be few and far between and steep fines are imposed for any Spanish quota overshoots.
Morocco is challenging country-by-country license management and, according to our sources, is proposing that these be granted on the basis of a Schengen logic, covering the entire European territory.
As far as the Commission is concerned, the problem is purely a bilateral one. According to our sources in Brussels, it is simply an issue related to logistics, essentially regarding the management of transport quotas awarded to Moroccan carriers, whose passage through Spain is subject to prior authorisation (certificate E). This certificate system ensures that only the goods for which the certificate has been awarded are transported, thereby preventing carriers from taking advantage of their presence in Spain to perform some of cabotage. (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)