EC/Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement: fishing opportunities and financial compensation from 28 February 2011 to 27 February 2012. Protocol

2011/0139(NLE)

The Spanish delegation asked the Commission for a briefing on the state of play of the negotiations concerning the EU-Morocco fisheries protocol. This Agreement is especially important to Spain and some other Member States which supported these requests.

As regards Morocco, on the basis of a mandate granted to the Commission by the Council, negotiations for a new protocol to the fisheries partnership agreement were opened in early November 2012. A fifth round took place on 11-12 February 2013 and ended inconclusively. No dates have yet been scheduled for a sixth round. Progress has been slow and seems to be stalled especially on the issue of the financial counterpart from the EU and the issue of inserting a human rights clause.

For the Commission, the financial aspects are about to be resolved and the EU is waiting for Morocco to set a date for a new round of negotiations.

Therefore, Spain would like to be debriefed by the Commission on this matter and, where necessary, to know/assess whether or not the Commission requires some political guidance from the Council. It is recalled that since the Commission was granted the mandate to open negotiations by the Council in February 2012, the negotiations on a Protocol that, considering its importance for the fishing fleets of Spain and the Member State fishing fleets, is becoming ever more urgent, have been very drawn-out.