Morocco Prepares for EU Fishing Agreement Talks as Deadline Looms

"The agreement expires this summer. Technical meetings are ongoing. When the time comes to open the file, we will see what happens, but we are ready for any scenario," said Mohamed Sadiki during a press briefing in Rabat. Contrary to his Spanish counterpart, Luis Planas, who doubts the renewal of the agreement, the Moroccan Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries says he has no "sign" so far regarding the renewal of the agreement, but assured that Morocco would opt for "another rule" to negotiate this renewal.

The EU-Morocco fisheries agreement and its implementation protocol came into force on July 18, 2019 for a period of four years. It grants 138 fishing licenses, including 93 to Spanish fishermen from Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Galicia. The agreement, which expires in July, was suspended in 2021 by the Court of Justice of the EU which ruled in favor of the Polisario Front which denounced the illegality of the agreement because it had been concluded without the consent of the Sahrawi people.

On December 16, 2021, the European Council launched an appeal against this decision. The Moroccan government hopes that the Court of Justice of the EU will endorse the fisheries agreement with Morocco, which will facilitate its renewal.