Andalusian Fishing Sector Concerned as Morocco-EU Fishing Agreement Expires: Latest Developments and Impact on Jobs and Economy

2023-06-06 08:55:39

The autonomous government of Andalusia is concerned regarding the expiry, on July 17, of the Morocco-European Union fishing agreement. The executive of President Juanama Moreno, of the Popular Party (PP), is not sure regarding the renewal of the protocol, specified in statements to the press the Spanish Councilor in charge of Fisheries, Waters and Rural Development, Carmen Crespo.

The official estimates that the return of the Andalusian fleet from the kingdom’s Atlantic waters would put nearly 500 crew members on hold. To avoid what she described as the loss of hundreds of jobs, Crespo demanded that Spain’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister, Socialist Luis Planas, “do the maximum possible leadership with Brussels” to convince the European Commission “to immediately open negotiations with Morocco, with a view to reaching a definitive solution and, as soon as possible, for this important fishing agreement”, qualified according to it as ” fundamental in the economy of the Andalusian fishing sector”.

Carmen Crespo felt that the Spanish government should “try to achieve a rapprochement between the parties and guarantee an activity on which many households in the province of Cadiz depend”. According to her too, “the impact of the non-renewal will affect both crews and shipowners as well as auxiliary companies in the sector dedicated, among other things, to the manufacture of ice cream or the transport of products”.

The Spanish government announces aid for the fleet

The government of Pedro Sánchez accepts the return of Spanish trawlers in the early hours of July 18. Despite open technical contacts between the European Commission and Morocco, both parties have agreed to await the appeal judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the inclusion of the waters of Western Sahara in the treaty. A verdict that might still be returned until the end of the year, underlined Minister Luis Planas in statements to Cadena Ser.

To ease the sector’s concerns, Planas announced the opening of a line of subsidies for the fleet affected by the cessation of its activities in Morocco. This financial aid will mainly benefit shipowners who have used their fishing licenses in the Kingdom’s Atlantic waters since July 2019.

The “concerns” expressed by the Autonomous Government of Andalusia, led by the PP, as well as the announcement made by the Socialist Minister Luis Planas on aid to the Spanish fleet come in a context marked by the campaign for the early legislative elections of the July 23, one week following the expiry of the Morocco-EU fishing agreement.

As a reminder, the CJEU has canceled, on September 29, 2021, the agreement between the EU and Morocco modifying the tariff preferences granted by the EU to products of Moroccan origin and the partnership agreement in the field of sustainable fishing, thus giving reason to a complaint lodged by the Polisario. The Twenty-Seven appealed. The CJEU’s verdict might come in the coming months.

Of a total of 138 licenses granted to European trawlers, Spain benefits from 93, distributed as follows: 42 to Andalusia, 37 to the Canary Islands and 17 to Galicia.

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