EU‑Morocco Agreement concerning reciprocal liberalisation measures for agricultural products, processed agricultural products, and fish and fishery products
1.2.2012
Question for written answer P-001209/2012
to the Commission
Rule 117
Mário David (PPE)
The European Parliament International Trade Committee last week endorsed the draft recommendation approving the above agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and the EU.
While welcoming all agreements aiming at closer ties between the European Union and its neighbouring countries, including the agreements signed with the Kingdom of Morocco, many doubts have been raised regarding the economic implications of this particular agreement for farmers in the European Union (and in particular by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in its opinion on the Agreement), namely as regards:
- 1.The capacity of the Community system to monitor and enforce schedules and tariff quotas;
- 2.Compliance with Community standards in the field of environmental protection, working conditions, protection of trade unions, anti-dumping legislation and food safety;
- 3.Geographical indications (GI);
- 4.Problems of competitiveness, caused by the differences in the cost of manpower between the European Union and Morocco;
- 5.Different seasons in the case of imports from Morocco, which may lead to some volatility in the prices of certain products in Europe (e.g. tomatoes);
Nevertheless, Article 2 of the Council Decision provides for the adoption of safeguard measures in accordance with the provisions applicable to imports from third countries. The Commission is therefore called upon to answer the following questions:
- 1.Is there any economic impact study, broken down by regions or Member States, showing the impact that the entry into force of this agreement will have in the EU, and particularly on employment, on the output of the agricultural sector and on the prices of the agricultural products in question throughout the year?
- 2.How will the Commission monitor compliance with the Community standards mentioned in point 2? How will it monitor tariff quotas and schedules?
- 3.When will there be an agreement on geographical indications similar to the agreement recently signed with Georgia within the framework of the Eastern Partnership?
OJ C 235 E, 14/08/2013