Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-12-12-Speech-1-038-000"
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"en.20111212.13.1-038-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, by proposing to extend this agreement the Commission is caught in the trap of its own incoherence and contradictions. The Commission ordered and paid for an
evaluation by an external consultancy after the agreement had been in place for four years.
The evaluation was clearly negative, both in economic terms, from the point of view of its utility to the Member States’ fleets, and in ecological terms, from the point of view of the perilous state of conservation of various fish stocks, not to mention any positive impact on the Moroccan fishing sector, which is, as in other cases, much reduced or zero.
Faced with the result of this evaluation, the Commission has come here to say that the report did not necessarily represent the Commission’s position, but it did not, as it should have done, counter the analysis therein with any objective data that might have contradicted it. However, the most serious issue raised by this agreement, which justified our opposition to it in 2005 and likewise justifies our opposition today, is that the agreement is illegal under international law.
The agreement with Morocco covers the exploitation of a natural resource over which Morocco has no jurisdiction under international law. According to the International Court of Justice, Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara has never been recognised from 1975 to the present day. By including waters off Western Sahara, this agreement contravenes all the resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations on this issue, particularly the 2009 resolution on economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the non-self-governing territories.
It is noteworthy that the legitimate representatives of the Sahrawi people were never given a say on this agreement: they were completely ignored, along with their will. This is an obligation derived, contrary to what you said, Commissioner, this is an obligation derived from international law, and let us not simply be satisfied with Morocco’s assertions that the people of Western Sahara are benefiting from this agreement.
I should say that we do not disagree in principle with fishing agreements with third countries. On the contrary, we have supported several of them, despite their many limitations and shortcomings. However, these agreements should be a free expression of the sovereign will of the peoples and countries involved, and should not provide cover for the pillage of natural resources as is happening here. The European Union is, unfortunately, a party to this pillage. Our opinion is that the only solution to this situation is to exclude the waters of Western Sahara from this agreement and to set up a process of dialogue with the legitimate representatives of the Sahrawi people …"@en1
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