The benefits of fisheries and agricultural incomes for the population of the southern provinces were highlighted at the European Parliament during an exchange of views, Tuesday, with European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, Pierre Moscovici.

At a meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) on the renewal of the agricultural agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco, Moscovici noted that this text meets three goals, namely the obligation to comply with the judgment of the European Court of Justice of December 2016, the ambition to support local development by granting tariff preferences to products originating from the region and the imperative not to interfere with the ongoing settlement policy process at the United Nations.

For the European Commissioner, this issue is the exclusive responsibility of the UN, and the EU can only support this process by refraining from interfering.

He pointed out that throughout the consultation process which had been conducted in a broad and inclusive manner with all the actors concerned for the renewal of the agreement, "the European Commission had endeavored to avoid any interpretation which would amount to a change in the European Union's position or opinion" on this issue.

"We have adopted a neutral and depoliticized approach", stressed the European Commissioner, calling on MEPs to take this tack.

"You are not being asked to comment on the final status of the Sahara. What is called for is the creation of a legal basis to grant tariff preferences to products from the Sahara for the benefit of the population of the Sahara", the European official told the MEPs members of INTA Committee.

These tariff preferences, he went on, would contribute to the socio-economic development of the region and hence to its stability, noting that the agreement should significantly benefit the region's economy with expected positive impact in the main sectors of activity, namely agriculture, fisheries and potentially phosphates.

According to the European Commissioner, 45 000 local jobs depend directly or indirectly on the fisheries sector and 14 000 jobs depend directly on agricultural production.

For the local economy, these figures show the positive economic impact of European trade cooperation on the region, which should not be underestimated, he noted.

For him, refusing to grant tariff preferences to products from the region would significantly compromise the region's exports and would have an extremely negative impact on the population.

In this context, the European Commissioner recalled that the process of assessing the benefits for the population will be regularly monitored by a mechanism provided for in the agreement.

"The European Union will continue to monitor the impact and usefulness of these agreements on population and local development", he underlined, recalling that the mission of members of INTA Committee, which will visit Morocco in early September, will have the opportunity to see on the ground the impact and benefit of EU agreements on population and local development.

Speaking at the debate, chairman of the EU-Morocco friendship group, Gilles Pargneaux, said that in the absence of tariff preferences due to a trade agreement, exports from the region to Europe will be heavily impacted, which would directly penalize the economy and local population.

He also noted that trade with the EU is one of the levers that has enabled "the incredible development of cities like Laayoune, Dakhla or Boujdour".