Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-27-Speech-5-012"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20001027.1.5-012"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, we are debating the third agreement with Morocco, which above all concerns French and Portuguese fishermen, who make up the bulk of the fleet, even though a small number of French and Swedish fishermen are also concerned. It is clear that, together with Morocco, Mauritania a little further to the south, and Senegal, we are dealing with some of the richest fishing regions in the world.
To the Spanish and Portuguese Members of the House, I would say that in life everything has to come to an end, even fisheries agreements with the third world.
With the second agreement, things were very clear. Our Moroccan friends and I were in no doubt that this was going to be the final agreement.
Now we have reached the moment of truth for all concerned, first of all for Morocco, which has a right to permanent sovereignty over its natural resources. But that is not what I heard just now, when talk was of fishing off the coast of an occupied territory, the Western Sahara in this case, which will be of great assistance to us during the negotiations. The Moroccans have the right to sustainable development and to a major small-scale industry, just as they have the right to create a food industry based on their fisheries and their fish.
On the Spanish and Portuguese side, I understand they are invoking a certain historic right. The Spaniards have put forward the case of an established practice and presence, and of an economic and human problem affecting 20 000 people who work in the fisheries and supporting industries. I understand all that.
And on the European side, we have the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, which is being put to the test. In fact, all our fishing agreements are being called into question not just those with Morocco, as there is also Mauritania and soon there will be Guinea among others to consider.
As for our Socialist Members, what a delight! Champions of generosity and of the third world, they are discovering what Chairman Mao called ‘the difference between antagonistic and non-antagonistic contradictions’. They have to reconcile defending jobs with their universalist and globalist convictions, which are being put to the test. It is actually easier to defend the suburbs than it is to defend Morocco.
So do we really need a third-generation agreement with mixed enterprises involving a significant return for Morocco and privileged relations? I think we should first of all pay a fair price for the resource. By paying one franc, or less than one euro, for a litre for oil, we have acquired bad habits as far as oil and for that matter, cocoa and the other natural resources are concerned.
But we must also understand that nothing lasts forever, not even fish stocks. Morocco is a great nation, but it also has major demographic and economic problems. His Majesty, King Hassan II, is no longer there. Let us add, in conclusion, the problem of their natural and historic province, the Western Sahara, which has not been completely resolved. Today, Morocco is faced with factory ships which are coming to pillage its natural resources, and which the small vessels and small Moroccan industries are in no position to resist.
There comes a time in life when we must learn to give in. This must not stop us from protecting our own resources. I am thinking of the tree growers and the market gardeners that we have sold out and also of the interests of southern Europe."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples