The agricultural agreement between Rabat and the EU, to a passage of being approved

The agreement to liberalize the commerce of vegetables andvegetables between Morocco and the European Union is to a passage of being approved. Yesterday, the commission of Trade International of the European Parliament against gave its approval to the pact with 23 votes to favor and five, the last previous step to the definitive vote in the plenary session of the Camera.

Agreement, that will benefit to the agricultural elites of the country where king Mohamed I SAW is one of the majors actors, includes the territory of the Sahara, an aspect that made be shipwrecked to the agreement of fishing between the EU and Rabat.

The text counted on the vote against Pablo Zalba (PP), Helper Strap (PP) and Emilio Menéndez of the Valley (PSOE), delegated of two parties that in spite of the serious mutual reproaches have been united against the agreement.

Minister of Agriculture, Miguel Aryan Cañete, considers it unbalanced to harm to the agriculturists and criticism to the previous Executive, who signed the text. The socialist Members of the European Parliament voted against when considering that the European Commission has not started up measured sufficient to protect the tomato producers, cucumber, mills, mandarin, garlic, marrow and sugar.

The French Member of the European Parliament Jose Bové, of the Green ones, led the opposition to the text in the parliamentary commission. After losing the voting, it alerted that if in the plenary session the correlation of forces is repeated, familiar agriculture to both sides of the Mediterranean will receive a hard blow. In addition, the Member of the European Parliament notices that there are doubts on the legality in an agreement that does not follow the example of the United States, that has explicitly excluded the territories from the Western Sahara in the agreement which they have signed with Morocco.

The entrance in force of the agreement is seen with fear by the Spanish agricultural sector, that it notices of a strong slope of prices that does impossible to compete with the Moroccan production. The affected product more will be the tomato Andalusian, Murcian and canary, who with a reduced tariff could put in danger to thousands of producers.

Rabat stays expectant de facto before the final procedure of this pact by its economic benefits and the legitimation that the Eurocámara can give its control of the Sahara. Whereas to knock down the fishing agreement Brussels saharauis like a reason used the illegal operation of the fishing-grounds, in the February plenary session the deputies could avoid the question, allowing to Rabat to confront the renegotiation in the agreement with a good precedent.

Publico.es, 26/1/2012