Spain’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Magrama), Miguel Arias Cañete, says negotiations on the new fisheries agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco “have advanced well in the definitions of technical conditions, and may be closed this week.
However, he acknowledged that the issue of the financial compensation “is where there may be some obstacles”, as this aspect is one of the most complex of fisheries agreements.
“We are trying to improve some technical aspects of fishing opportunities,” said the minister before participating in the meeting of the Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries of the EU.
“I hope we can move further and, if it is not closed in this round, it can be immediately closed in the next scheduled round. I hope we’ll be able to start closing these ends in this round.”
The head of Magrama also noted, “there are movements” in the agreement with Mauritania, to which the Government and the sector oppose.
In this regard, he expressed confidence that “important steps” allowing changes in the fishing possibilities and areas are taken before their ratification by the European Parliament (EP).
Meanwhile, Arias Cañete informed that during the meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Irish Presidency will present their work programs for this semester, with the aim of closing final political agreements on the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy (PPC) reform in March.
The minister expressed his willingness to collaborate with the Irish presidency, but stressed that he will defend “the Spanish position on matters that are not yet well profiled, especially on the issue of discards, where we need to ensure that compliance with this obligation doesn’t impede the normal development of the Spanish fleet fisheries.
On the other hand, he referred to the artisanal fleet, about which he said, “it has an enormous importance for Spain”.
“We are defending vessels under 15 meters in length to be considered artisanal fleet or, if they exceed this size, they may have tides of less than 24 hours,” said the head of Magrama.
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