The fisheries agreement between EU and Morocco will expire on July 17, six days before the July 23 snap elections in Spain. A situation that risks hampering the fight against drug trafficking, immigration, and terrorism between the two countries.
With the end of this agreement, the 128 European ships, including 93 Spanish (47 in Andalusia, 38 in the Canary Islands and 7 in Galicia), will no longer be able to sail in Moroccan waters. “In practice, the changes will not be noticed”, explains to El Independiente, Javier Garat, secretary general of Cepesca and president of Europêche, specifying that the Andalusian boats will continue to fish in the Gulf of Cadiz, while the Galicians will be able to concentrate on the agreement with Mauritania and the Canarians will confine themselves to their waters.
Javier Garat adds that vessels from Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland, countries with a fishing tradition, will be the most affected by this rupture. But more importantly, the end of the EU-Morocco agreement could cause serious difficulties for Spain in “controlling drug trafficking, immigration and terrorism”, fears the Cepesca spokesperson, recalling the consequences of the decision of the European Court in September 2021, declaring this agreement null and void on the grounds that it had been concluded without the consent of the Saharawi people and their representative, the Polisario Front.
The Council of the EU lodged an appeal against this decision in December 2021. The final decision of the Court could come towards the end of the year, according to sources close to the Polisario. “The situation is clear. If the waters of the Moroccan Sahara are excluded, we can forget the agreement. On the other hand, if they are included, it is very likely that a rapid negotiation between the EU and Morocco will take place”, explains Garat, stressing that beyond economic exchanges, there is a “special aspect of ‘aid for the economic development of the Sahara’ in this EU-Morocco agreement.
And to add: “The problem is that on one side there are the Moroccans and on the other the Polisario Front which considers that it has not taken advantage of it. The decision of the EU tribunal will determine the future of this agreement”. For the time being, Cepesca is asking for the establishment, at the level of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, of a special aid fund to assist Spanish fishermen. “We still don’t have details, but are still in talks with the ministry to find out their plan after July 17,” Garat concluded.
