Uncertainty looms over EU-Morocco fisheries agreement as Spain braces for impact

The future of the fisheries agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco remains uncertain, said Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas.

As the main beneficiary of the agreement, Spain could face significant consequences if the deal is not renewed.

According to Planas, the fisheries agreement, which expires on July 17, is “very complicated” to extend in the short-term. Spain, which holds 93 of the 138 licenses granted by Morocco, would be hit hard by the suspension of the agreement, he told Spanish news agency EFE in Warsaw.

Planas revealed that at the last Council of Ministers meeting held in Brussels a few weeks ago, the consequences of the agreement’s end were discussed. He added that the Spanish government would now be forced to consider measures that would help mitigate the negative impact on Spanish shipowners.

The negotiations to renew the agreement are expected to be influenced by a forthcoming ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU, which is expected to be delivered in September.

Brussels is trying to find an alternative path that keeps an agreement in force, according to which 92% of the catch will be sourced from waters of the Moroccan Sahara.

“We hope that the sentence is favorable (…) We have always defended, with the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, the legality of the agreement,” Planas recently from Brussels.

Spanish MEP Idoia Villanueva of Unidas Podemos stated that “these talks are being opaque and are not taking into account the Polisario Front,” the instigator separatists who are pushing for the agreement’s annulment.

Planas acknowledged that Rabat would want to know the content of the European Court of Justice’s ruling before deciding on any extension of the protocol. He also confirmed that it would be challenging to extend the agreement beyond the July deadline.

For 47 years, Spain and Morocco have maintained a series of bilateral agreements, which have been assumed by the EU since 1986. The agreements have enabled Spanish vessels to fish in Moroccan waters.