New Morocco-EU round on fisheries next week

Morocco and the European Union will hold a new round of talks on fisheries this Feb.8-9 in Brussels, a European Commission source said.

The new "technical session" follows a "clarification" round held last week in Rabat, as part of ongoing discussions between Morocco and the EU on a new fisheries agreement.

The latest agreement expired in November 1999 and Morocco refused to renew it under the same terms because of over-exploitation of its depleting sea resources.

Since the agreement expired, some 600 European trawlers, mostly Spanish ones, which use to fish in Moroccan waters, were brought to a forced mooring.

The two sides are reportedly diverging over the agreement duration and amount of financial compensation.