An extension of the European Union’s controversial fishing agreement with Morocco came one step closer as the member states’ EU ambassadors voted to send the proposal to a final vote among the fisheries ministers on Monday.
A last-ditch effort to stop the proposal in Coreper, the ambassadors’ assembly, failed as some nations with many votes, including the UK and Germany, abstained. So did Finland, contrary to the two other Nordic members Sweden and Denmark, who had been leading the opposition.
Interviewed on the Swedish Radio, Sweden’s fisheries minister Eskil Erlandsson expressed disappointment with the outcome of the vote in Coreper, but said he still had hope that his delegation would be able to muster enough support to stop the prolongation of the agreement when the ministers meet in the Council on Monday.
The Swedish Radio, quoting unnamed Government sources, said Sweden’s primary goals for those approaches were the Netherlands and Austria.
Morocco occupies Western Sahara since 1975, and the European Parliament’s legal experts have found the EU-Morocco agreement in effect since 2006 in conflict with international law. Their conclusions were supported in a legal analysis by several Swedish international law professors published in early February.
The European Voice has reported that Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki originally fought against an extension of the agreement, but was run over by her colleagues in the Commission.
Spain, a major fishing power in the rich waters off Western Sahara, was reported instrumental in launching the proposal to prolong the agreement.