On Monday 11 June, the European Commission proposed amending the agricultural protocols of the EU-Morocco Association Agreement in order to ensure that products from Western Sahara might also benefit from tariff preferences – as Morocco's ambassador to the EU, Ahmed Reda Chami, had earlier told EUROPE (see EUROPE 12037).
This proposal for Council decision (the subject of an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the parties) aims to respect the December 2016 ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (see EUROPE 11450). It is stipulated that products originating from Western Sahara which are subject to the control of the Moroccan custom authorities benefit from the same commercial preferences granted by the EU to products covered by the association agreement.
The proposal introduces amendments to Protocol No 4 and Protocol No 1 of the EU-Morocco Association Agreement. The objective of the proposal is to avoid disrupting trade with Western Sahara while maintaining access to the EU market at a stable level, with no new preference being granted. The proposal also grants exports from the Sahara to the EU the same treatment as is granted to the exports of products of Moroccan origin.
The proposal does not involve the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement (court ruling in Case C-266/16).
UN. The draft agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco states that the agreement is concluded without prejudice to the EU's position on Western Sahara, and to Morocco's position on this region.
Benefits for the local population. In a separate working document, the Commission says that despite the impossibility of clearly distinguishing the origin of the different constituent elements of the Western Sahara population, there are enough indications enabling the conclusion that the economic activity generated by exports to the EU is fulfilled to the benefit of local jobs and, consequently, to a greater or lesser extent, to the benefit of all local populations, all origins combined. This positive impact would be compromised if exports to the EU did not benefit from the same tariff preferences as those granted to Morocco.
Agricultural production in Western Sahara involves tomatoes and melons, for which there is a market in the EU. This production is estimated at 64,000 tonnes and accounts for 14,000 direct jobs.
There is a significant processing industry for fisheries products in Western Sahara (141 establishments are authorised to export to the EU). The export of fisheries products from the territory in 2015 and 2016 rose to a figure between €100 million and €200 million. The number of jobs depending on these exports to the EU was around 45,000. The extension of the tariff preferences to these products will reportedly have a big impact on the territory's economy and thus on jobs.
When it comes to phosphates, the Commission estimates that the granting of preferences to products originating in Western Sahara will have an impact on the future development of the production of certain phosphates. Indeed, large investments that have been announced (nearly $2 billion) in the production of products derived from phosphate in Western Sahara (phosphoric acid and fertilizer) would reportedly be compromised if exports to the EU of these phosphate products could not benefit from preferential treatment, the Commission states. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)