PR NLE-AP Agreement...References 10593/2018 – C8-0463/2018 – COM(2018)0481 – 2018/0256(NLE) Committee responsible INTA Opinion by Date announced in plenary AFET 12.11.2018 Rapporteur

RR\1172643EN.docx PE627.725v02-00

EN United in diversity EN

European Parliament 2014-2019

Plenary sitting

A8-0471/2018

18.12.2018

*** RECOMMENDATION

on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of

an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of

Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean

Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and

their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the

other part

(10593/2018 – C8-0463/2018– 2018/0256(NLE))

Committee on International Trade

Rapporteur: Marietje Schaake

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PR_NLE-AP_Agreement

Symbols for procedures

* Consultation procedure

*** Consent procedure

***I Ordinary legislative procedure (first reading)

***II Ordinary legislative procedure (second reading)

***III Ordinary legislative procedure (third reading)

(The type of procedure depends on the legal basis proposed by the draft act.)

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CONTENTS

Page

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION ................................. 5

OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS ................................................. 6

OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT 10

PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE ................................................................... 14

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE .................................... 15

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DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an

Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the

amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an

association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one

part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part

(10593/2018 – C8-0463/2018– 2018/0256(NLE))

(Consent)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the draft Council decision (10593/2018),

– having regard to the request for consent submitted by the Council in accordance with

Article 207(4) and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a)(i), of the Treaty on

the Functioning of the European Union (C8-0463/2018),

– having regard to its non-legislative resolution of ...1 on the proposal for a decision,

– having regard to Rule 99(1) and (4) and Rule 108(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on International Trade and the

opinions of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Agriculture and

Rural Development (A8-0471/2018),

1. Gives its consent to conclusion of the agreement;

2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the

governments and parliaments of the Member States and of Morocco.

1 Texts adopted of that date, P8_TA(0000)0000.

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21.11.2018

OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

for the Committee on International Trade

on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an Exchange

of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of

Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between

the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of

Morocco, of the other part

(10593/2018 – C8-0463/2018 – 2018/0256(NLE))

Rapporteur for opinion: Anders Primdahl Vistisen

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

This agreement - amending Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement - aims to

provide guarantees on the respect of international law, including human rights, and the

sustainable development in the territories concerned.

It is important to underline that this agreement does not imply the recognition of Morocco’s

sovereignty over Western Sahara. The EU position remains to support UN efforts to secure a

fair, lasting and mutually acceptable settlement to the Western Sahara conflict, on the basis of

the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and in accordance with the relevant UN

resolutions.

As mentioned in the opinion to the accompanying resolution, the rapporteur acknowledges the

efforts of the Commission and of the EEAS in trying, within the remits of their respective

competences, to evaluate the benefit for the population and to ascertain their consent to this

agreement. He also valued the outcome of the inclusive consultations led by the Commission

and the EEAS with a wide variety of Western Saharan local representatives, civil society and

other organisations and bodies, through which broad support was expressed for the socio-

economic benefits the proposed tariff preference would bring.

******

The Committee on Foreign Affairs calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the

committee responsible, to recommend that Parliament give its consent to the draft Council

decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between

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the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to

the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European

Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the

other part.

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PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Title Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European

Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1

and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association

between the European Communities and their Member States, of the

one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part

References 10593/2018 – C8-0463/2018 – COM(2018)0481 – 2018/0256(NLE)

Committee responsible

INTA

Opinion by

Date announced in plenary

AFET

12.11.2018

Rapporteur

Date appointed

Anders Primdahl Vistisen

5.9.2018

Members present for the final vote Michèle Alliot-Marie, Nikos Androulakis, Petras Auštrevičius, Bas

Belder, Victor Boştinaru, Elmar Brok, Klaus Buchner, James Carver,

Lorenzo Cesa, Georgios Epitideios, Eugen Freund, Michael Gahler,

Iveta Grigule-Pēterse, Sandra Kalniete, Tunne Kelam, Wajid Khan,

Andrey Kovatchev, Eduard Kukan, Arne Lietz, Barbara Lochbihler,

Sabine Lösing, Andrejs Mamikins, David McAllister, Francisco José

Millán Mon, Javier Nart, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Demetris Papadakis,

Ioan Mircea Paşcu, Alojz Peterle, Tonino Picula, Kati Piri, Julia Pitera,

Cristian Dan Preda, Jozo Radoš, Michel Reimon, Sofia Sakorafa, Jean-

Luc Schaffhauser, Anders Sellström, Alyn Smith, Jordi Solé, Dobromir

Sośnierz, Jaromír Štětina, Dubravka Šuica, Charles Tannock, László

Tőkés, Miguel Urbán Crespo, Ivo Vajgl, Anders Primdahl Vistisen

Substitutes present for the final vote Doru-Claudian Frunzulică, Ana Gomes, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Marek

Jurek, Patricia Lalonde, Antonio López-Istúriz White, David Martin,

Gilles Pargneaux, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Marietje

Schaake, Eleni Theocharous, Bodil Valero, Mirja Vehkaperä, Željana

Zovko

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FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

44 +

ALDE Petras Auštrevičius, Iveta Grigule-Pēterse, Patricia Lalonde, Javier Nart, Jozo Radoš,

Marietje Schaake, Mirja Vehkaperä

ECR Bas Belder, Charles Tannock, Anders Primdahl Vistisen

ENF Jean-Luc Schaffhauser

PPE Michèle Alliot-Marie, Elmar Brok, Lorenzo Cesa, Michael Gahler, Sandra Kalniete,

Tunne Kelam, Andrey Kovatchev, Eduard Kukan, Antonio López-Istúriz White, David

McAllister, Francisco José Millán Mon, Alojz Peterle, Julia Pitera, Cristian Dan Preda,

José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Anders Sellström, Jaromír Štětina, Dubravka

Šuica, László Tőkés, Željana Zovko

S&D Nikos Androulakis, Victor Boştinaru, Doru-Claudian Frunzulică, Wajid Khan, Arne

Lietz, Andrejs Mamikins, David Martin, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Demetris Papadakis,

Gilles Pargneaux, Ioan Mircea Paşcu, Tonino Picula, Kati Piri

17 -

ALDE Ivo Vajgl

ECR Marek Jurek, Eleni Theocharous

GUE/NGL Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Sabine Lösing, Sofia Sakorafa, Miguel Urbán Crespo

NI Georgios Epitideios, Dobromir Sośnierz

S&D Eugen Freund, Ana Gomes

VERTS/ALE Klaus Buchner, Barbara Lochbihler, Michel Reimon, Alyn Smith, Jordi Solé, Bodil

Valero

1 0

NI James Carver

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention

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29.11.2018

OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

for the Committee on International Trade

on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an Exchange

of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of

Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between

the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of

Morocco, of the other part

(10593/2018 – C8-0463/2018 – 2018/0256(NLE))

Rapporteur for opinion: Michel Dantin

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

The EU and Morocco concluded a Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement in 2000. In

2012 liberalisation measures on agricultural products, processed agricultural products, fish,

and fishery products were incorporated into the Association Agreement by an agreement in

the form of an exchange of letters.

Following an action for annulment of the latter agreement brought by the Polisario Front on

the grounds that the agreement was contrary to international law to the extent that it applied to

Western Sahara, the Court of Justice handed down a judgment on 21 December 2016 (on

appeal) to the effect that the agreement must be interpreted as not applying to Western Sahara.

The Court did not rule out the possibility that Western Sahara might be covered, but, after

referring to the relative effect of treaties, a general principle of international law, in

connection with the question whether an agreement of that particular type was likely to

benefit the people of Western Sahara, it specified that implementation of the agreement on a

broader basis would, in any event, require the people to give their explicit consent.

The negotiations that followed in the wake of that judgment, conducted between the

Commission and Morocco on the basis of a mandate adopted by the Council at the end of

May 2017, were intended essentially to adjust the Association agreement and to restore a

legal basis for preferential trade between the EU, on the one hand, and Morocco and Western

Sahara, on the other, while causing the least possible disruption to the trade concerned. The

agreement in the form of an exchange of letters, which it has been proposed to the Council to

conclude and to which Parliament is being called upon to give its consent, amends Protocols 4

and 1 to the EU-Morocco Association Agreement by providing that the trade preferences

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granted by the EU to the (Moroccan) products covered by the Association Agreement will be

accorded in the same way to products from Western Sahara. The agreement, moreover, sets

out ways to gauge the benefits of the preferences for the people affected, along with

consultation arrangements.

The rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

obviously does not wish to venture into political assessment of the agreement (for that is a

matter for other committees). He believes that the agreement should be approved by

Parliament, since this would provide a stable and unassailable framework for trade with a

major partner of the EU. However, in putting forward his own view concerning non-

legislative resolution being drawn up by the Committee on International Trade, he feels that

he should point out that certain fruit and vegetable imports from Morocco and Western Sahara

(tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, etc.) are a highly sensitive issue for the European horticultural

sector. He also has some reservations and questions about the way in which products

imported from Western Sahara have been managed for customs purposes since the Court

judgment of 21 December 2016. The Commission should keep alert to the market disruptions

that might be caused by Moroccan and Western Saharan fruit and vegetable imports into the

EU and never hesitate to activate the safeguard clause provided for in the agreement. Finally,

it would be particularly desirable if the procedure for concluding the EU-Morocco agreement

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin were completed as

soon as possible.

******

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development calls on the Committee on

International Trade, as the Committee responsible, to recommend approval of the proposal for

a Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters

between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1

and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the

European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of

Morocco, of the other part.

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PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION








INTA

Opinion by


AGRI

12.11.2018

Rapporteur

Date appointed

Michel Dantin

21.8.2018

Date adopted 12.11.2018

Result of final vote +:

–:

0:

23

10

1

Members present for the final vote John Stuart Agnew, Clara Eugenia Aguilera García, Eric Andrieu, José

Bové, Daniel Buda, Matt Carthy, Jacques Colombier, Michel Dantin,

Paolo De Castro, Albert Deß, Diane Dodds, Norbert Erdős, Luke Ming

Flanagan, Karine Gloanec Maurin, Martin Häusling, Peter Jahr,

Jarosław Kalinowski, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Norbert Lins, Philippe

Loiseau, Giulia Moi, Ulrike Müller, Maria Noichl, Marijana Petir,

Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Tibor Szanyi,

Maria Gabriela Zoană, Marco Zullo

Substitutes present for the final vote Franc Bogovič, Angélique Delahaye, Anthea McIntyre, Momchil

Nekov, Hilde Vautmans, Miguel Viegas, Thomas Waitz

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FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

23 +

ALDE Ulrike Müller, Hilde Vautmans

ECR Zbigniew Kuzmiuk, Anthea McIntyre

EFDD Marco Zullo

ENF Jacques Colombier, Philippe Loiseau

NI Diane Dodds

PPE Franc Bogovič, Daniel Buda, Michel Dantin, Angélique Delahaye, Albert Deß, Norbert

Erdős, Peter Jahr, Norbert Lins, Marijana Petir, Czesław Adam Siekierski

S&D Clara Eugenia Aguilera García, Paolo De Castro, Karine Gloanec Maurin, Tibor Szanyi,

Maria Gabriela Zoană

10 -

EFDD John Stuart Agnew

GUE/NGL Matt Carthy, Luke Ming Flanagan, Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Miguel Viegas

S&D Eric Andrieu, Maria Noichl

VERTS/ALE José Bové, Martin Häusling, Thomas Waitz

1 0

EFDD Giulia Moi

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention

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PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE







Date of consultation / request for consent 26.10.2018



INTA

12.11.2018

Committees asked for opinions


AFET

12.11.2018

AGRI

12.11.2018

PECH

12.11.2018

Not delivering opinions

Date of decision

PECH

24.9.2018

Rapporteurs

Date appointed

Marietje

Schaake

10.12.2018

Previous rapporteurs Patricia Lalonde

Discussed in committee 29.8.2018 5.11.2018

Date adopted 10.12.2018

Result of final vote +:

–:

0:

25

9

2

Members present for the final vote Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Maria Arena, Tiziana Beghin, David

Borrelli, Daniel Caspary, Salvatore Cicu, Karoline Graswander-Hainz,

Christophe Hansen, France Jamet, Elsi Katainen, Jude Kirton-Darling,

Bernd Lange, Anne-Marie Mineur, Sorin Moisă, Alessia Maria Mosca,

Franck Proust, Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl, Inmaculada Rodríguez-

Piñero Fernández, Tokia Saïfi, Marietje Schaake, Helmut Scholz,

Joachim Schuster, Joachim Starbatty, Adam Szejnfeld, Iuliu Winkler

Substitutes present for the final vote Sajjad Karim, Gabriel Mato, Georg Mayer, Ralph Packet, Johannes

Cornelis van Baalen, Jarosław Wałęsa

Substitutes under Rule 200(2) present

for the final vote

Paloma López Bermejo, Javier Nart, Anders Sellström, Miguel Urbán

Crespo, Marco Zullo

Date tabled 18.12.2018

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FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

25 +

ALDE Johannes Cornelis van Baalen, Elsi Katainen, Javier Nart, Marietje Schaake

ECR Sajjad Karim, Joachim Starbatty

EFDD Tiziana Beghin, Marco Zullo

ENF Georg Mayer

PPE Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Daniel Caspary, Salvatore Cicu, Christophe Hansen, Gabriel

Mato, Sorin Moisă, Franck Proust, Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl, Tokia Saïfi, Anders

Sellström, Adam Szejnfeld, Jarosław Wałęsa, Iuliu Winkler

S&D Bernd Lange, Alessia Maria Mosca, Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández

9 -

ENF France Jamet

GUE/NGL Paloma López Bermejo, Anne-Marie Mineur, Helmut Scholz, Miguel Urbán Crespo

S&D Maria Arena, Karoline Graswander-Hainz, Jude Kirton-Darling, Joachim Schuster

2 0

ECR Ralph Packet

NI David Borrelli

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention

Documents

PR NLE-AP Agreement...References 10593/2018 – C8-0463/2018 – COM(2018)0481 – 2018/0256(NLE) Committee responsible INTA Opinion by Date announced in plenary AFET 12.11.2018 Rapporteur