Fisheries: EU calls its negotiations with Morocco 'difficult and politically sensitive'

Luxembourg held a meeting on Monday of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council under the European Commission.

Its work has been sanctioned by a report on the progress of negotiations on fisheries between the EU and Morocco, after the fifth and last round of negotiations between the Kingdom and the EU has had no result .

The European Commission said no date has yet been fixed for the holding of a new round of negotiations, when the Irish Presidency of the EU, represented by the Council of Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Environment of Ireland, Simon Coveney, has urged Morocco to quickly agree a new appointment for a sixth round of negotiations.

The blocking is doubling in size and deployment, and the government of Abdelilah Benkirane has todecide whether to accept the principle of an agreement and whether it is willing to renew permission for European fishermen to enjoy the fish resources of the country, it still requires a adequate financial compensation for such approval.

For its part, the EU tends to politicise this agreement which is purely economic, introducing a clause on human rights.

On this occasion, the Irish Minister described the process of negotiating with Morocco as difficult and politically sensitive.

Emphasising the great concern of the 27 European Union, regarding the status of negotiations for the overwhelming crises in countries operating the agreement, namely Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, he urged the Morocco to quickly return to the negotiating table and set it for a date for a sixth round of talks.