The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planasindicated this Monday that the Spanish government wants to “deepen strategic relationships” with Moroccodespite the fact that Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) annulled the trade agreements agriculture and fishing because he considers that the African country does not have the consent of the people of Western Sahara.
The Court thus put an end to a dispute over the fishing and agricultural agreements, recognizing to the Sahrawi people the rights that the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezdoes not recognize by ceding control of the region’s skies to Mohamed VI.
“We will respect the decision, but we are politically very interested in deepening strategic relations with Morocco,” Planas stressed in statements to the media. Luxembourg ahead of the meeting of EU agriculture and fisheries ministers.
Relations with Morocco
When asked if he thought the EU should explore a new deal including Polisario Front in the negotiations, Planas indicated that the bloc must now “assess the consequences [de las sentencias] from a legal and political point of view.
The minister also announced that he will travel to Rabat next Friday to participate in the ministerial meeting of the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), where he will meet, among others, his Moroccan counterpart, to whom he says he has already shared what Spain and the EU think: “The work that we share is above what this stop”.
Planas, as Minister of Agriculture, is totally in front of the producers and workers of the sector, who fully support Western Sahara.
In fact, last week, Union of Trade Unions farmers and breeders and the Polisario Front united to demand that the government of Pedro Sánchez implement the EU decision that the product labeling from Western Sahara do not put Morocco as the origin.
Thus, the farmers and the Polisario Front demand that the sentence be carried out “from tomorrow and not wait for the 12 months of grace that Europe wants to grant.
Therefore, the Union of Trade Unions urges immediate compliance through the identification of food products originating from Western Sahara and their labeling as such and not as such. Moroccan products. The agrarian organization and the Polisario Front agree that, in the current state of affairs, “it misleads consumers and producers about its origin.”
The government, however, is more concerned with reestablishing other types of trade routes with this African country, without caring about European warnings or the needs, demands and demands of Spanish farmers.
And the primary sector is worried about what it calls “unfair competition” from this type of country. For example, Spain triggered the purchase of Moroccan fruit 80.2% in August compared to the same month last year, despite the health alerts what happened with these products in 2024, according to data published this Friday by the Ministry of Economy and Trade about him foreign trade.
Specifically, Spain acquired 2,780,889 kilos of fruit from the African country in August 2024. In the same period of the previous year, purchases amounted to 1,543,187 kilos.
