The European Union wants to relaunch the fisheries agreement with Morocco

Speaking before the joint committee of the Congress and the Senate on the European Union (EU), Kadis presented a proposal to open discussions with Rabat on a new fisheries agreement. The project will have to be approved by the governments of the 27 Member States. The European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans assured that this text marks a "very important" evolution in relations with Morocco, especially after the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU annulling the trade and fisheries agreements on the grounds that they were concluded without the consent of the Sahrawi people.

Kadis also exchanged on the issue with the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, before his appearance before Parliament, according to a statement from this ministry. The European Commissioner also mentioned the subject in his response to a question from Deputy Agustín Santos Maraver (Sumar), who sought to know the future of this fisheries agreement with Morocco, after the recent rapprochement of the kingdom with Russia in the field of fisheries.

The last fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco expired in July 2023. It granted licenses to 138 EU vessels, including 92 Spanish vessels from Andalusia (47), the Canary Islands (38) and Galicia (7), to fish in Moroccan waters. According to sources in the sector, about twenty permits have been used since 2019, a period marked by the Covid-19 pandemic. The ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU annulling the said agreement came in October 2024.