Spanish farmers continue to target Moroccan trucks transporting fruit and vegetables to European markets. Five trucks were vandalized in Catalonia on Tuesday, February 27, in the latest incident. The farmers claim unfair competition from Moroccan products, alleging they «are not subject to the phytosanitary controls established by the European Union». This reasoning was condemned by the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs. Nasser Bourita denounced these «protectionist overtones» targeting goods from the south. «We are seeing attacks on agricultural products coming from the south», he said during a press briefing with his French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné, «while the European Union enjoys a trade surplus with Morocco of nearly 600 million euros. And it is the EU that exports the most agricultural products, cereals and others, to Morocco. Pressuring products from the south is not fair». The head of Moroccan diplomacy reminded everyone that «free trade is a European initiative. Today, the European Union has a surplus of 10 billion euros with Morocco. We must recall these figures to say that free trade cannot be à la carte». Nasser Bourita disputed allegations, made by unions and European parties, that portray «the European Union as a sieve where everything enters without control». He clarified that «we negotiated quotas. We negotiated phytosanitary controls. The European Union was, moreover, very particular about the conditions». The Minister of Foreign Affairs criticized «shortcuts that create a political perception problem rather than addressing commercial issues».
