Brussels, 28/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - After four days of negotiations a fisheries partnership agreement between the European Union and Morocco has been concluded. The agreement was announced on Thursday by Joe Borg, European Commissioner and the Moroccan minister for external trade Mustapha Mechahouri. This agreement, which will be in place for a period of 4 years and should become applicable from 1 March 2006. It will provide fishing possibilities for 119 EU vessels (mainly Spanish) and an annual quota of 60,000 tonnes of small pelagic species. The financial compensation from the European Union to Morocco will amount to € 144 million for the whole period, with EUR 56 million for developing Moroccan fisheries. As expected the agreement does not include species such as octopus and squid or crustaceans. The previous agreement came to an end in November 1999 and was not extended in March 2001 as the two parties deemed this impossible (EUROPE 7932).It included fishing rights for 500 EU boats and a compensation package of EUR 500 million.