Morocco asks EU to reconsider fishery proposals

Fishery minister, Said Chbaatou, and foreign affairs and cooperation secretary of state, Taieb Fassi Fihri, asked Tuesday the European Union to reconsider its counter-proposals of November 8 in Rabat to the Moroccan fishery offer.

Meeting EU ambassadors in Rabat in a work session assessing talks, the officials voiced "astonishment" and "disappointment" at the European response.

For the two cabinet members, the response in no way takes into account Moroccan proposals and ignores the socio-economic situation of the sector. They insisted it was a mere remake of the previous accords and called Brussels to reconsider its stand and seriously take Moroccan concerns.

The kingdom means to promote its own fishery sector, preserve resources and create jobs in a sector selected to be a priority and engine of the take-off of national economy, they said.