In the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament, which held a meeting on Monday, the European Commission said that it is still analyzing the two rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU concerning the Sahara of 4 October, which annulled part of the EU agricultural agreement with Morocco, specifically the part relating to the extension to Western Saharan products of the concessions granted to Morocco, and the part relating to the labeling of products from the Sahara. Nothing was said at the meeting regarding what specific action will be taken to comply with both rulings.
The head of the Wine, Alcohol and Horticultural Products unit, Mauro Pionelli, who spoke in the EP Agriculture Committee on behalf of the Directorate-General for Agriculture, reiterated that the Commission is internally evaluating every point of the rulings to be able to comply with the court decision. In this regard, and in response to requests from MEPs and part of the EU sector to modify the agreement with Morocco, he said that the only point questioned by the CJEU is the extension of tariff preferences to Western Sahara, not the association agreement with Morocco itself. The tariff preference being extended to the Sahara was not considered valid by the Court, but it won't affect the agreement with Morocco as a whole. According to FEPEX, the Commission has no intention of modifying the Association Agreement with Morocco.
The MEPs participating in the Agriculture Committee outlined the importance of enforcing the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union. In this regard, Spanish MEP Carmen Crespo talked about the negative impact of the agricultural concessions to Morocco on the EU production. She said that when the first association agreement with Morocco was signed, imports of some products increased fourfold. By way of example, she mentioned that Morocco is currently the main supplier of berries, and that, in the case of tomatoes, 73.7% of the value of non-EU tomato imports corresponds to Morocco. Crespo said that producers are not confident that the agreements are being strictly adhered to, as they believe that there hasn't been an adequate control of imports.
The French MEP from the Socialist group, Eric Sargiacomo, said that the Commission should clarify how customs controls are going to be carried out in the EU, and he also said that the entry price system for Moroccan tomatoes, which is not being respected, needs to be reformed.
The Green MEPs, Martin Hausling, from Germany, and Cristina Guarda, from Italy, also argued that the Court of Justice ruling is clear and that the agreement with Morocco should be renegotiated. They also called for imports to be monitored to ensure that the requirements are met.
Spanish MEP Mireia Borrás Pabón and French MEP Gilles Pennelle of the Patriots for Europe group stressed that Moroccan products are not meeting the same conditions as EU products, which leads to unfair competition.
Also speaking at the meeting was Luke Ming Flanagan, member of the European Parliament's Left group, who stressed the importance of strictly monitoring what is being done regarding the Morocco agreement, while Ivan David from the Czech Republic, from the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group, pointed to the need for more balanced approaches to trade policy to prevent EU producers from being harmed.
For FEPEX, the strict application of the CJEU ruling should mean that, within a year, fruit and vegetable products from Western Sahara, which make up a growing part of Moroccan exports to the EU, will be excluded from the tariff advantages granted to Morocco, and that this will lead to greater economic and social sustainability for EU producers.
For more information: www.fepex.es