Morocco Threatens to Scrap EU Fishing Deal Amid Migrant Crisis Tensions

The crisis between Morocco and Spain could intensify with the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on an appeal by the Polisario Front concerning the fishing agreement that includes the waters of the Sahara. On Thursday, many Moroccan internet users reacted on social media, calling for the "non-renewal of the fishing agreement with Spain", reports El Espanol. The fishing agreement between the EU and Morocco, signed more than 30 years ago and regularly renewed until 2019, allows EU fishermen to operate in non-EU waters in exchange for an access fee. A suspension of these agreements would directly affect Spain, whose fishermen make up the largest part of the fleet.

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With the signing in 2000 of the Association Agreement, and the adoption five years later of the European Neighborhood Policy action plan, Morocco has become a privileged partner of Europe in the fight against illegal immigration and terrorism. The establishment of the EU-Morocco summit has further strengthened these political relations.

In a resolution against Morocco, voted on Thursday in Strasbourg by the four main groups in the European Parliament (Popular, Socialist, Liberal and Green) with 397 votes in favor, 85 against, 196 abstentions, the EU condemned the "unjustifiable" attitude of the kingdom, which caused an unprecedented migration crisis in May by allowing thousands of migrants to enter Ceuta. In its resolution, the EU states that "the worsening of the political and diplomatic crisis must not call into question the good neighborly, strategic, multidimensional and privileged relations between Morocco and the EU and Spain".

Morocco’s reaction did not wait. "The European Parliament resolution does not change the political nature of the crisis between Morocco and Spain," Morocco said in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that "the instrumentalization of the European Parliament in this crisis is counterproductive." The day before the vote on the resolution, Nasser Bourita, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, had already accused the Spanish government of "Europeanizing" the "bilateral crisis between Spain and Morocco". For the Moroccan diplomatic chief, beyond the Ghali affair, there is "something deeper. A loss of trust".