Progress made in fish talks

Date: 05/10/1995

By Michael Mann

AFTER six rounds of formal negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough on a new fisheries accord between the EU and Morocco, Commission officials are quietly optimistic that less formal contacts have succeeded in whittling down to manageable levels the outstanding differences between the two sides.

However, officials in Rabat this week produced one final obstacle to the settlement of the dispute, expressing shock at Spanish resistance to allowing a significant proportion of the fish caught in Moroccan waters to be landed at Moroccan ports.

Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino met Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez in Madrid last Friday, for what Commission officials described as “private discussions”, pointing out that it had “little remaining room for manoeuvre”.

Although the Commission is nervous about giving away any details, it is clear that the gap has been narrowed since the negotiations broke down for the last time on 28 August.

Securing an agreement on the fisheries dispute would mark significant progress towards the settlement of a planned association agreement between the EU and Morocco, which Moroccan officials hope can be tied up before the Euro-Mediterranean Conference in Barcelona on 27 and 28 November.