Morocco, EU start arduous negotiations on agriculture exchanges

Top Executives from Morocco and the European Union are starting this Wednesday negotiations on agriculture, the most difficult sector in the association agreement in force since March 2000.

The European Union which is granting strong subsidies to its agriculture is reluctant to open its markets to Moroccan produce, while Morocco, keen to protect small farmers, does not want a large opening of its market to over-subsidizes European agricultural products.

Furthermore, negotiations could be further complicated by the need to abide by the World Trade Organization multilateral agreements.

However, sources at the European Commission, the EU executive body, hope to reach an agreement before end 2002, as decided during last October's meeting of the Morocco-EU association agreement.