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Morocco-EU trade in turmoil after court ruling

Stormy waters as fishing and farming deals between Morocco and the EU are declared invalid Alamy via Reuters
Stormy waters as fishing and farming deals between Morocco and the EU are declared invalid
  • Western Sahara territory ruling
  • European fishing suspended
  • Annual $208M EU payment gone

It has been a difficult week for Morocco and its partnership with the European Union. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled last week that fishing and farming deals between the two parties struck in 2019 are now invalid. 

The agreements faltered over the thorny – and sensitive – issue of the Western Sahara, which has bedevilled relations between Morocco and its neighbour Algeria and now with the EU. 

Despite appeals from the European Commission, the EU executive branch, the court found that the agreements included products from the Western Sahara whose people had not been adequately consulted. 

The territory has been disputed since 1975 when Spain, the colonial power, withdrew. It is governed by Morocco, which calls it the southern provinces, but is also claimed by the Polisario Front based in, and backed by, Algeria. 

The US recognised Morocco’s claims to the territory under the Abraham Accords but the United Nations designates it as a non-self-governing disputed territory.

Under the terms of a 2019 sustainable fisheries protocol, Morocco received an annual payment of €208 million in exchange for allowing up to 128 European fishing vessels to operate in the Atlantic waters it controls. 

Annually, the catch under this agreement typically ranged between 80,000 and 100,000 metric tonnes. The ECJ ruling means that fishing is now officially suspended with consequences especially for Spanish and Portuguese fishermen.

The EU and Morocco must also review trade relations regarding other natural resources of the Western Sahara – the territory is rich in phosphates – and how they consult on them.

Javier Garat, president of Europêche, Europe’s fishing industry body, called last week’s ruling “a devastating blow” and warned of “significant socio-economic consequences”.

The EU is Morocco’s largest trading partner. In 2022 56 percent of Morocco’s exports went to the EU, and 45 percent of Morocco’s imports came from the EU. That trade was worth €53.3 billion. A free trade agreement has been in place since 2000.

Following the ruling EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen rushed to emphasise “the profound friendship” and “solid and multi-faceted cooperation” between the two sides.

A possible course of action, said Garat, is to look at allowing fishing under so-called direct authorisation although this would add a layer of complexity.

EU fishermen are also likely to be looking for other fishing grounds including offshore Mauritania, Garat said.