On Tuesday, 18 July, Commissioner for Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius stated that the EU will continue its “work” with Morocco with the aim of renewing the fisheries agreement, although its future depends on the decision of the General Court of the EU.
During the informal meeting of the EU’s fisheries ministers that was held in Vigo, Mr Sinkevičius and Spanish Minister Luis Planas bilaterally discussed the issue of the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement ending (see EUROPE 13224/9).
Mr Sinkevičius explained, “[What] the court’s [final] decision [will be] is very difficult to judge, but at least we will have [...] clarity. At the moment, until we [...] have a court decision, we cannot engage”, which is preventing a [new] agreement with Rabat from being finalised.
“We are engaging, and I would say that our work with Morocco is ongoing. [...] I hope that as soon as we have a court decision, we will be able to close the deal with Morocco”, he insisted.
By way of reminder, Mr Planas stated that the joint committee on the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco had agreed that work would continue in the event that, once the General Court had handed down its judgment, it would be possible to “renew a common interest protocol”.
The protocol was offering “138 licences, including 93 for Spain”, even though only 21 vessels (11 from Andalusia and 10 from the Canary Islands) had made significant use of access to Moroccan waters between 2021 and 2023, according to Mr Planas.
The Spanish government intends to do everything in its power to ensure that aid for temporary suspension of activity reaches all vessels that have carried out significant fishing operations in Moroccan waters. The aid [package] being organised by the Spanish government only benefits 11 vessels that have fished in Morocco for at least 20 days over the course of the last 3 years and that have not exhausted the 180-day limit of aid for temporary suspension of activity provided by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)