The European Commission has requested to consider the trade agreement between the European Union and Morocco regarding agricultural products from a global perspective, taking into account both the impact of Moroccan imports on community producers and the growth of European exports to the North African country. The position of the community executive has been presented before the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, where European farmers have expressed their concerns about the effects of the pact on the horticultural sector.
An official from the Commission has defended before the MEPs that the agreement with Morocco has had, in general terms, positive effects for European sales in the Moroccan market. According to what has been indicated, several sectors have benefited from this trade framework, including agro-food, so the analysis should not be limited only to the volume of imports from Morocco.
“The agreement with Morocco, in general, has been beneficial for European exports to Morocco. There are many sectors that have benefited, including agro-food. When we examine this agreement, we should not think only of imports but also of exports,” said the community executive's representative during the parliamentary session.
The issue has reached the Petitions Committee through a Spanish citizen, identified by the initials F.C.R., who has reported what they consider to be a serious and ongoing violation of community law by the European Commission in the implementation of the agreement. In their view, the community executive would be ignoring the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union related to Western Sahara and allowing a situation that causes economic, social, and legal harm to European producers.
The petitioner has argued that the implementation of the agreement is being carried out with laxity and without adequate corrective measures. In their intervention, they pointed out that this situation generates unfair competition for Spanish producers and, by extension, for European farmers, especially in the horticultural sector. Their complaint is framed in a context of growing pressure on the community agricultural sector, which is demanding greater guarantees in the compliance with commercial, sanitary, labor, and origin conditions applicable to imported products.
Among the measures requested, the citizen has asked the European Parliament to file an omission action before the Court of Justice of the European Union for the alleged inaction of the Commission. They have also demanded that the same court be asked for an opinion on the compatibility of the trade agreement with Morocco with European legislation, following the precedent of the procedure raised concerning the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.
The European Commission has rejected this interpretation and stated that the request does not provide sufficient evidence to prove a violation of community law. The community executive has defended that the agreement must be examined beyond the horticultural sector and taking into account the totality of exchanges between both parties. In this sense, it has indicated that trade agreements involve concessions, advantages, and impacts for the signing partners, so their evaluation must incorporate all these elements.
The representative of the Commission has also stated that Brussels has complied with the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union related to the consent of the Sahrawi people and issues regarding the labeling of products from Western Sahara. These resolutions have been subject to monitoring by agricultural organizations, business associations, and political groups, which demand clarity in identifying the origin of the products and guarantees regarding the legality of trade flows.
The debate keeps open the tension between the European Union's trade policy with Morocco and the demands of community producers, especially in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, France, and Italy, where certain crops compete directly with the productions of the North African country. The Petitions Committee of the European Parliament must now assess the progress of the submitted request and the possible institutional actions derived from it.
The discussion also takes place at a time of special sensitivity for the European agricultural sector, subjected to greater regulatory and environmental demands within the community market. Producers have repeatedly called for imported products to meet conditions equivalent to those applied in the European Union, while Brussels maintains that trade agreements should be evaluated based on their overall contribution to economic exchange, bilateral cooperation, and the access of European companies to foreign markets.
