MEPs back Morocco trade deal

Agreement liberalises trade in agricultural and fisheries products.

The European Union will slash 55% of import tariffs on agricultural and fisheries products from Morocco, under a trade agreement approved by the European Parliament in Strasbourg today (16 February).

The Parliament backed the agreement at its plenary session with 369 votes in favour, 225 against and 31 abstentions.

But MEPs also adopted a resolution calling on the European Commission to tighten controls of agricultural and fisheries imports from Morocco, and to prepare an assessment of their impact on European producers. The lifting of import tariffs concerns primarily fruit and vegetables.

Within ten years, Morocco will reciprocate by slashing 70% of its import tariffs on EU agricultural exports, primarily concerning processed food.

Many MEPs are sceptical about opening the EU’s internal market to agricultural imports. Others criticised environmental and labour conditions in Morocco. Another group of MEPs opposed the deal because it also applies to Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in the 1970s.

The rapporteur on the Morocco agreement, José Bové, a French Green MEP, recommended that the agreement be rejected, and withdrew his name from his report after MEPs approved the deal.

In Madrid, Spanish farmers pelted the offices of the European Commission and the European Parliament with tomatoes in protest against the agreement with Morocco.

The agreement leaves in place import quotas on products including tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers and garlic, and allows seasonal quotas to prevent distortion of the EU market.

The agreement is supposed to support Morocco’s economic and political liberalisation.