The Spanish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas, said on Monday that the European Union (EU) is prepared “for any scenario” regarding the fishing pact between the community club and Morocco, in reference to the fact that the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) annuls that agreement in an upcoming ruling. On the other hand, he urged the bloc to make decisions to meet the demands of farmers across Europe.
«There is no need to prejudge the situations, but, in any case, we are prepared for any scenario, in contact with the Moroccan authorities and, obviously, both the Council (EU institution that brings countries together) and the Commission are working on it,” the politician told EFE.
Planas spoke in this regard from the Belgian city of Bruges, where the Fisheries Ministers of the 27 are holding an informal meeting today to discuss the future of the sector.
The meeting takes place after last week an advocate general of the Court of Justice of the EU called in a ruling to annul the fisheries agreement between the EU club and Morocco because it does not treat the territory of Sahara and adjacent waters as “separate and distinct” from Morocco.
Although the opinions of an advocate general are not binding, the Luxembourg-based CJEU takes them into account in most cases when delivering its judgment.
In any case, Planas considered that “we have to wait for the ruling to see what happens and what practical consequences the issue has.”
He also recalled that both the Commission, the Council of the EU and Member States such as Spain consider that the agreement, concluded in 2019, “is in line with Community and international law”.
The Spanish minister also explained that the EU court does not always follow the criteria of the advocates general, and recalled what happened with the ruling last January in which it endorsed the agreement of the Twenty-seven on fishing opportunities for 2020, contrary to what the lawyer’s conclusions defended.
(source : EFE agency)