Vigo (EFE).- The European Union (EU) will maintain talks and “work” with Morocco in order to renew the fishing agreement, although its future is pending the ruling of the Community Justice, according to the European Commissioner for Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, and the Spanish Minister of the sector, Luis Planas.
Sinkevičius and Planas, president of the EU Agriculture Council, have bilaterally addressed the end of the agreement with Morocco during the informal meeting of community Fisheries ministers held in Vigo, as confirmed in statements to the press.
The commissioner has described the expiration of the fishing protocol as an “unfortunate situation”, due to the impact for the affected community fleet, but has insisted that no decision can be “prejudged” nor can the EC commit to closing an agreement until it rules on the agreement the Court of Justice of the EU.
Judgment on a ruling on a European appeal
The expected ruling is the ruling on an appeal filed by the European party against another ruling, from the General Court of the EU, which in turn, in 2021, annulled the fisheries agreement and the association agreement with Morocco on the grounds that they did not take into account the interests of Western Sahara.
“Our work with Morocco continues, but before (the sentence) we cannot finalize a new agreement,” stressed the representative of the EC – which negotiates the fishing agreements on behalf of the 27 community countries.
Planas recalled that last week there was a mixed commission on the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco, in Brussels, and that the technical investigations and work will continue in the event that, when the Court issues its ruling, it can be “renewed”. a protocol of common interest.
According to the minister, the protocol offered “138 licences, 93 for Spain”, although only 21 ships (11 Andalusian and 10 Canary Islands) made significant use of access to Moroccan waters between 2021 and 2023.
Planas has reiterated that the Government will look for all the ways so that the aid for the temporary stoppage of the activity reaches all the vessels that fished significantly in Moroccan waters.
The aid published so far by the Government only benefits 11 vessels, because they have fished for at least 20 days during the last three years in Morocco and have not exhausted the limit of 180 days of aid for temporary stoppages established by the programming of fishing funds of the EU between 2014-2023.
The Government is studying “State aid” and “all routes” so that its shipowners and sailors affected by the reduction in activity after the end of the agreement are covered by the support, even if it is a slower route, Planas pointed out. .
Wow, superb weblog layout! How long have you been running a blog for?
you make blogging glance easy. The whole look of your website is excellent,
let alone the content material! You can see similar here
e-commerce