Vox calls for suspension of EU-Morocco agricultural agreement

Far-right political party in Spain Vox has called on the Spanish government on Tuesday to demand the suspension of the agricultural agreement between Morocco and the European Union.

The party’s parliamentary spokesperson, Rubén Martínez Alpañez, registered a motion in the Regional Assembly, urging the regional government to request that the national government, within the framework of the European Union, “immediately suspend the agricultural agreement between Morocco and the EU due to the enormous economic damage it causes to Spanish and Murcian agri-food production.”

Vox is referring to the agreement signed on February 16 between Morocco and the EU, which replaced the previous 2004 agreement and further liberalized the trade of Moroccan products into the EU market.

Vox argues that the agreement has created “unfair competition that affects the profitability of farms.”

The Spanish party alleged that Murcian farms cannot “compete with their Moroccan counterparts given that their productions are larger as they use phytosanitary products that are in many cases prohibited in the EU and do not have the same strict sanitary controls as Spanish producers.”

The motion also referred to the opinion issued in 2014 by the European Economic and Social Committee, which was shared by agricultural organizations, and which warned that the agreement “threatened thousands of jobs in rural areas of the EU.” 

Vox, in its motion, also called for the immediate promotion of the “non-entry into force of new EU trade agreements” that “cause economic damage to Spanish and Murcian agri-food production.” 

Such production includes products such as olive oil, wine, fruits, vegetables, and pork.

The motion also proposed that the necessary measures be established regarding phytosanitary and zoosanitary control and certification at the border. 

These measures are expected “to prevent the introduction and spread in the national territory of products subject to veterinary or phytosanitary inspection or certification, such as harmful organisms for plants.”

The motion was registered on Tuesday, just one day before a major protest by farmers in the Murcia region, which is mobilizing large columns of farmers from various points of the region towards the capital of Segura.