Even after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announced the annulment of fishing agreements between Morocco and the European Union, several EU countries reiterated their commitment to pacts with the Kingdom . According to experts, this decision greatly affects Spain due to its high fishing activity in the area.
Aware of this issue, a group of MEPs from the Spanish People’s Party and the Basque National Party called on the European Commission on Thursday to find urgent solutions for Spanish fishermen impacted by the CJEU decision.
A binding cancellation? The same MEPs called for financial support and exceptional measures for the affected fishing fleet, stressing that “ the ruling prevents them from fishing in waters that were traditional fishing grounds for them« .
Carmen Crespo, president of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee and member of the Spanish People’s Party, pointed out the decision. She expressed surprise at the lack of an alternative plan from the Commission, noting that there should have been proposals ready to deal with this situation.
Along the same lines, Popular Party MEP Francisco José Millán Mon said that “ the loss of this potential fishing area represents a hard blow, particularly for the Cadiz Bay fleet, which is already suffering reductions in sardine quotas“. He reiterated that “the alternative fishing opportunity has now disappeared« .
Fearing the harmful consequences for the Spanish fishing sector, Francisco José Millán Mon continued: “ I fear that this judgment will not facilitate the establishment of future agreements, and although I cannot be optimistic, I hope that the Commission will quickly complete its study and present to us the possible options« .
For his part, Social Democratic MP Nicolás González Casares called on the European Commission to “work on the signing of a new agreement that takes into account the conditions imposed by the Court, in order to guarantee a fair distribution of benefits to all concerned “.
He insisted: “ This is what the Commission must focus on: finding immediate solutions, because the fleet cannot sustain this crisis continuing indefinitely.« .
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