E.U.-Morocco Fisheries Agreement Extension Appears Dead in the Water

The European Commission confirmed, Wednesday after much ado, that there will indeed be no further talks to renew the current fisheries agreement that exists with Morocco, according to Europa Press.
Though the E.U. Court of Justice is expected to make a final ruling at the year’s end, it appears certain that from July 17 (the expiration date of the current protocol) until at least that indeterminate date, Morocco and Spain will be affected by this ruling (or technically, the absence thereof).
As the E.U.’s position remains the same on the issue of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, and as Spain’s national elections have been moved up to next month, the issue is very much in flux.
The current agreement went into effect in 2019. The suspension of activity is anticipated to most profoundly fall upon Spain, since the vast majority of fishing licenses in that area emanate from the provinces of Galicia, Andalusia, and the Canary Islands.
A similar lapse in governance of the territorial waters–of approximately one year in duration– occurred between 2018 and 2019; however, the economies of E.U. nations were in much better financial shape five years ago than they are today. Since the fleet will have to cease all activity in these waters, resources will have to be delegated to the affected fishermen to compensate for loss of income in these well-documented inflationary times.