Moroccan Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Mohamed Seddiqi said on Tuesday that the European Court of Justice’s cancellation of the two fishing agreements with Europe last week will not have an impact on the development of the agriculture and fishing sectors.
He added to Reuters on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the “Blue Belt” initiative, which is concerned with protecting marine biodiversity in Africa and the world, “The European Court’s decision means the Europeans, and we are not concerned with it.” He continued, “We do not accept any agreement that does not respect national sovereignty.”
The minister stated that despite the European Court of Justice’s decision to cancel the two agreements, “there are positions of European countries that cling to the relationship with Morocco and seek to develop it in the future.”
He also said, “Agriculture and fishing are witnessing great growth and development on the level of the African continent, and we are constantly working on market issues and opening up at the international level.”
Moroccan condemnation
The Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the ruling issued by the European Court of Justice last Friday invalidating the trade agreements between Rabat and the European Union, and considered it “blatant political bias.”
The Moroccan Foreign Ministry said, in a statement, “The content of the decision is marred by many clear legal flaws and errors in the suspected facts.”
The statement said: “Morocco calls on the Council, the European Commission and the European Union member states to take the necessary measures in order to respect their international obligations and preserve the partnership’s gains.”
The European Court of Justice considered that the European Commission violated the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination by concluding trade agreements with Morocco.
The Western Sahara region is the longest territorial dispute in Africa since Spain, the former colonial power, left the region in 1975.
Most of the territory of the Sahara region is subject to the authority of Morocco, while the Polisario Front demands the independence of the region.
