EU delegation expected this week in Morocco for talks on fisheries

A delegation from the European Commission, led by Antonio Cavaco, general manager of fisheries, is expected in Morocco for a two-day visit.

Morocco and the European Union are bound by a fishery agreement that will expire in 1999. Morocco had announced that it will not renew the agreement and will seek instead new forms of partnership with Europe, in a bid to protect its threatened sea resources.

The visit is taking place as the European Parliament will host on Wednesday a debate on the future of the fish products markets in the European Union. The Strasbourg-based parliament wishes to introduce new practices, such as gradually reducing intervention in markets and letting market laws shape the balance between supply and demand. The European legislators also want to reconsider the role of producers' organizations, intensify efforts against the marketing of illegal fish and implement financial compensation to reduce fishing activities, Map reported.

The European Parliament argues that in view of the community's deficit in fish products, the system applied to European-capital joint companies should be different from the one applied to imports from non-member countries.