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The European Union agreed on Friday to extend for one year a fisheries agreement with Morocco which critics say consolidates the North African country's hold over disputed Western Sahara.
EU government diplomats approved extending until March 2012 a deal whereby the EU purchases the right from Morocco to fish its waters and also off Western Sahara. The deal is expected to be rubber-stamped by EU ministers next week, an EU source said.
An agreement was only reached after the bloc's executive -- the European Commission -- promised to publish an initial assessment of the regional impacts of the EU-Morocco fisheries pact, particularly whether the trade deal benefits Sahrawis.
"This may have tipped the debate against the blocking minority that opposed the deal," the EU source said. Opposition to the deal was led by Germany and the EU's Nordic member states.
"The Netherlands in particular agreed to the one-year extension, despite being reluctant beforehand over the lack of guarantees from Morocco," the source added.
The Commission rejected a request by Spain, France and others to prolong the agreement by two years, and said the extension was only designed to allow assessment of the fisheries pact ahead of a possible four-year extension.
BENEFITS QUESTIONED
The United Nations demands that economic activities in non-self governing territories be in accordance with the wishes and interests of the people.
Critics say the EU's annual 36 million euro ($48.8 million) fishing license payments goes straight into the coffers of the Moroccan government.
Morocco's annexation of the territory in 1975 prompted a rebellion by the opposition Polisario Front. The United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991, but subsequent negotiations have failed to find a political settlement in Africa's longest-running territorial dispute.
European fishermen widely fish the waters of Western Sahara under the current 2007 agreement, mainly for sardines and octopus destined for European restaurants and processing plants.
Activists estimate about 70 to 80 percent of fish caught under the fisheries accord are caught in the disputed waters. Spain -- home to fish processing giant Pescanova -- has led the call for the pact to be extended.
But responding to mounting concerns, EU fisheries chief Maria Damanaki in October said the EU executive Commission can only propose a renewal if Morocco proves the deal will benefit Sahrawis.
(Reporting by Charlie Dunmore, editing by Rex Merrifield)
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