Mr President, the Liberal Democrat Group strongly regrets the incidents that have been caused by the Moroccan authorities. We believe very much that fisheries agreements are signed to settle disputes and not to create them, as seems to have happened in this case. But we need to negotiate a new agreement. I think we need to look at ways to implement the new treaty, without the problems that we have in the present one. What we would like to see is some way, perhaps through a bilateral committee, to resolve problems before they become critical, as they have at the present moment.

The European Parliament has to stress two priorities in its fisheries agreements, particularly with Morocco: firstly, to protect the legitimate interests of European fishermen; secondly, to have a proper dialogue with their counterparts in Morocco. I do not think we should forget that the Kingdom of Morocco is, for many reasons, on the whole a friend and ally of Europe. Dialogue must be the key word, otherwise any such agreement is bound to fail in the longer term. But agreements are not just about trade, and that is particularly true of fisheries agreements. We must remember two specific things in relation to our dealings with Morocco: first of all, the United Nations resolutions that have already been mentioned; second, and particularly, the Polisario people themselves. Any agreement must recognise the problems concerning waters that are not legitimately controlled by Morocco at the present moment.

We feel that this needs to be resolved by agreement rather than confrontation, but by firm negotiation, and that that should be put into a new agreement with the Moroccan authorities.