Spanish Agriculture Minister: Morocco Ties Transcend ECJ Ruling

Doha – Spanish Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Luis Planas has strongly reaffirmed Spain’s commitment to strengthening its relations with Morocco, arguing that the deep bilateral ties are “above” a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision annulling trade and fisheries agreements between the European Union and the North African country.

“The relations and the union and the common work that we share, the European Union and Morocco, are above what this ruling has raised,” Planas told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday before a meeting of EU agriculture ministers.

While stating that the EU will respect the ECJ’s judgments issued on October 4, the minister stressed that “politically, we are very interested in deepening our strategic relations with the kingdom of Morocco.”

Planas said it is now up to the EU to evaluate the legal and political consequences of the court’s decision. In the meantime, he emphasized, both Spain and the bloc as a whole have reiterated to Rabat their desire to further enhance the close partnership despite the legal setback.

The minister himself plans to deliver this message again during a meeting of Mediterranean agriculture ministers in the Moroccan capital on Friday. “These rulings of the Court of Justice say what they say, and therefore now it is up to us as the European Union to evaluate what the consequences are from the legal point of view and from the political point of view,” Planas remarked.

Spain’s staunch support for Morocco in the wake of the ECJ ruling comes as no surprise. Even before the court issued its judgments last week, Planas had underscored that regardless of the outcome, Madrid would work to ensure that the “positive and stable” relations with Rabat would continue unimpeded.

On the same day the Luxembourg-based court annulled the EU-Morocco trade deal and fisheries pact, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also reaffirmed Spain’s unwavering backing of its southern neighbor. “This is where Spain stands, and where we will continue to be,” he declared.

In particular, the ECJ’s decision has raised concerns in Spain’s southern region of Andalusia, where officials have warned that the revocation of the fisheries agreement will “severely harm” its fishing fleet, particularly 45 vessels that operate using purse seine nets and small-scale methods off Morocco’s northern coast. Andalusian authorities are urging for swift renegotiations of the annulled agreements.

The ECJ’s rulings originated from a 2019 complaint by the Polisario Front, a group claiming to represent the people of Western Sahara, which argued that the EU-Morocco agreements were applied to the disputed territory without the consent of the Sahrawi people.

Morocco has rejected the court’s judgments, while the EU has said it will assess their implications but remains committed to its strategic partnership with the kingdom.