The European Commission has today signed a new Fisheries Protocol with Morocco, which will allow EU vessels to resume fishing in the waters of occupied Western Sahara.
Photo: European Commissioner for Fisheries Maria Damanaki and Moroccan Minister for Fisheries Aziz Ackannouch seal the deal.
While all of Brussels is silent due to summer recess, the European Commission chose to push forward the contentious negotiations with Morocco to obtain a new fish deal.
The new Protocol has been reached after months of deadlock over the issue of Western Sahara, as the EU's insistence on including a human rights clause clashed with Morocco's untenable idea of sovereignty over the territory it illegally occupies since 1975.
Though not yet disclosed, the Protocol is said to include a human rights clause and some language regarding the use of Western Saharan resources.
At the time of writing, it was not yet clear whether Morocco has accepted the EU's proposal to provisionally apply the agreement, whereby vessels could immediately start fishing pending Council's approval. Up to yesterday, Morocco demonstrated stark opposition to the idea, wanting to avoid at all cost a repetition of the December 2011 scenario. Back then, the European Parliament revoked the previous Fisheries Protocol causing EU fishing vessels to withdraw, following concerns on the Protocol's economic viability, ecological sustainability and compliance with international law in its treatment of Western Sahara.
"I can be optimistic, and I hope the European Parliament can understand the difference from the previous one," said Maria Damanaki, the European commissioner for maritime affairs. "There has to be respect for international law so the local population has to get the profit of the agreement we signed," she added.
The European Commission has however not sought the consent of the Saharawi people on the deal which will profoundly impact the fish stocks in their occupied country's waters.
The Frente Polisario, the internationally recognised political representation of the Saharawi people, has condemned the new Protocol. "This attempt to legitimize the theft of Western Sahara's natural resources detracts from the ongoing efforts by the United Nations to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing occupation of Western Sahara. Nor will the ineffective human rights provision in the new Protocol help the situation of the Saharawi people, who continue to be oppressed on a daily basis by the forces of Moroccan occupation", said Mohamed Sidati, Polisario's Representative to the EU.
Under the newly agreed Protocol, Morocco accords greater catch volumes in return for a larger annual fee; € 40 million, up from the € 36,1 million granted under the previous deal. In addition, vessel-owners are to pay a bigger fee in order to access the waters.
The Protocol still requires acceptance by the EU Member States and the European Parliament.
The EU considers to pay Morocco to fish in occupied Western Sahara. An EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement from 2013 would be both politically controversial and in violation of international law.
The international Fish Elsewhere! campaign demands the EU to avoid such unethical operations, and go fishing somewhere else. No fishing in Western Sahara should take place until the conflict is solved.
