Paris cannot play a mediation role in the fisheries dossier, minister
Morocco-France, Politics, 5/10/2001

French minister of agriculture and fisheries, Jean Glavany, said Paris cannot play a mediation role in the fisheries dossier between Morocco and the European Union as it is a party to the negotiations.

France tried all along the negotiations on a new fisheries accord to make things easier, but cannot play a mediation role, the French official told Moroccan daily "L'Economiste" of this Thursday.

The council of European fishery ministers decided last April to stop negotiations with Morocco on fisheries, after the two sides failed to reach agreement on a new fishery accord following several technical and political rounds of negotiations. Some 400 European trawlers, mostly Spanish and Portuguese, were forced to berth after the expiry in November 1999 of the previous fishery accord with Morocco.

The French minister of agriculture and fisheries said "France will see to it that the failure of negotiations does not entail any crisis between the EU and Morocco."

He tried to minimize the impact of the negotiations failure saying "Morocco recovers its sovereign rights over its sea resources" and "the European must reconvert their fleet."

Glavany said he is visiting Morocco to seek ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the sectors of agriculture and fisheries through a new methodology, setting priorities.

The French official who started his visit to Morocco Monday conferred with several cabinet members, including the Prime Minister and the ministers of agriculture and of maritime fisheries.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan-French committee on security and struggle against organized crime to meet shortly   (5/9/2001)
  Moroccan, French interior ministers meet in Marrakesh   (5/8/2001)
  French interior minister in Morocco   (5/7/2001)

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