Luxembourg, 25/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - Under the present circumstances, the Council has reached the conclusion that it is no longer possible to reach an acceptable fisheries agreement between Morocco and the Community. In conformity with the conclusions of the European Council in Nice, the Council invites the Commission to present, as soon as possible, a specific action programme on the restructuring of the Community fleet which should take into account the socio-economic aspects of the regions affected and provide possible alternatives for the fleet concerned. Such were the conclusions adopted by the Fisheries Council on Wednesday in Luxembourg, which thus noted the failure of negotiations with Morocco for a fisheries agreement. Neither did the Council think it possible to negotiate an agreement on the non-industrial fleet alone.
Spanish Minister Miguel Arias Canete reaffirmed that the agreement could not be partial and that it should be to the advantage of ships from the Canary Islands, Galicia and Andalusia. In addition to the 240 million made available by the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), Spain called on the Commission to grant it an additional EUR 300 million from structural aid over five years. The intransigent attitude of Spain (see also yesterday's EUROPE p.8) was not shared by Portugal, which would have preferred to have the Council grant the Commission a new mandate limited to an agreement on craft fishing, as proposed by Morocco.