Rabat - Morocco said on Friday it would take the “appropriate measures” following European Court of Justice’s ruling on the Morocco-EU agriculture agreement.
'Morocco will follow up with vigilance the unfolding of a judiciary adventure which bears a strong political overtone and will take, as need be, the appropriate measures", said a communique released by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation on Friday.
The communique added that Rabat “took note of the ruling of the European Union's court on the appeal lodged against the agreement between Morocco and the European Union related to reciprocal liberalization measures regarding agricultural products, processed farming products and fisheries products, adopted on March 8, 2010.”
The statement comes 24 hours after the UCJ issued a ruling annulling the agriculture agreement signed between Morocco and the European in March 2012.
The ruling claims that when signing the agreement, the UE “did not verify whether the exploitation of natural resources of the Western Sahara under Moroccan control was done or not for the benefit of the people of that territory.”
The ruling has been rejected by the Moroccan government, which expressed astonishment over the court’s decision.
''Although the decision concerns the European Council exclusively and despite the fact that it does not challenge at all the agriculture agreement concluded between Morocco and the European Union, the Kingdom expresses astonishment over the decision on a protocol, which, like all the other bilateral agreements, is conform to international legality", the ministry pointed out.
Following the court’s ruling, Morocco is questioning whether it should maintain its overall agreement with the European Union.
''The Kingdom of Morocco is legitimately questioning the appropriateness of maintaining the whole set of agreements that the two countries have managed to build over long years in political, economic, human and security fields in a spirit of partnership and respect of internationally-recognized values" the communique noted.
Rabat expressed it confidence in “the legal solidity of the agreements concluded with the European Union and in the European Council competent bodies' ability to make prevail the legal rules over any political consideration,” and reiterated its “will to live up to its commitment toward the European Union in serenity and mutual confidence and in the respect of international legality."
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