The Minister Delegate in charge of relations with Parliament and government spokesperson, Mustapha Baitas, renewed Morocco’s call for the European Union (EU), its institutions, and its Member States, to fully take responsibility to preserve and protect the partnership with Morocco against political maneuvers.
This comes in response to the opinion delivered by the Advocate General of the EU’s Court of Justice regarding the annulment of the “Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco”.
Speaking on March 21 during a press conference following the work of the government council, Baitas explained that “what was published is not a decision of the European Court nor a judicial order, but rather a document outlining the opinion of the General Advocate” on the subject matter.
In this regard, Baitas noted that “this opinion constitutes an intellectual and technical contribution presented by the Advocate General at this stage of the procedure”, pending the deliberations between the judges of the court and the pronunciation of the final judgment.
In the same context, the Moroccan official affirmed that “the Kingdom of Morocco is not a party in these cases”, adding that the European Union (EU), represented by the European Council, is the defending party, supported by the European Commission (EC) and several Member States in the defense of the agreements with Morocco, with several Moroccan professional associations joining the procedure in support of the defense team.