EU-Morocco Fisheries Deal Expiry Threatens Spain’s Maritime Security

With the end of this agreement, the 128 European vessels, including 93 Spanish ones (47 in Andalusia, 38 in the Canary Islands and 7 in Galicia), will no longer be able to navigate in Moroccan waters. "In practice, the changes will not be noticed," explains Javier Garat to El Independiente, 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 focus on the agreement with Mauritania and the Canarians will confine themselves to their waters.

Javier Garat adds that the vessels of 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 lead to serious difficulties for Spain in "controlling drug trafficking, immigration and terrorism," fears the Cepesca spokesman, recalling the consequences of the European Court’s decision in September 2021, declaring this agreement null and void on the grounds that it had been concluded without the consent of the Sahrawi people and its representative, the Polisario Front.

The Council of the EU filed an appeal in December 2021 against this decision. 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 the economic exchanges, there is a "special component of development aid for the Sahara" in this EU-Morocco agreement.

And he adds: "The problem is that on the one hand there are the Moroccans and on the other the Pol