Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)

I am very grateful to Senator Higgins for raising this Commencement matter. I genuinely welcome the opportunity to clarify the concerns raised by the Senator about information provided to the House in the debate on Commencement matters on 3 September. At that time, the Senator asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to update the House on Ireland's position regarding the amendment of an agreement between the EU and Morocco. I wish to underline that the process to conclude the Council's decision concerning the opening of negotiations on the amendment of the 2018 agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco is nearing its conclusion. I also wish to clarify that the references to the negotiation process in the information provided to the House on 3 December referred to both the negotiations between the European Commission and Morocco and to the consideration by member states of that agreement.

On 4 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the ruling of the General Court of 29 September 2021 annulling the Council decision on the conclusions of the 2018 agreement, in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco. This decision required a negotiation of a new agreement between the EU and Morocco. The court set a deadline of 4 October 2025, in that it maintained the effects of the existing Council decision until that date.

In July 2025, the Commission submitted to the Council a recommendation for a Council decision concerning the opening of negotiations on the amendment of the 2018 agreement, in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco. The negotiations on the replacement agreement commenced in September, with a view to meeting the deadline of 4 October 2025. On 10 September 2025, the Council adopted, via a written procedure, a decision authorising the opening of negotiations with the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of the agreement with the results of the negotiation between the European Commission and Morocco reflected in several documents shared with member states on 22 September via the Customs Union group. The Commission presented the proposal at the Mashreq-Maghreb working party on 25 September. Having been initiated by COREPER I on 1 October, member states were asked to finally vote, via written procedure, on the adoption of the decision on 2 October.

The EU and Morocco signed the amended EU-Morocco agreement on 3 October and its provisional application began. The formal process is currently nearing its conclusion. At the time of the Commencement matter on this subject on 30 September, member state negotiations on the replacement agreement had not yet been fully concluded in Brussels. Discussions were still ongoing at official level as regards the decision. As Ireland had not yet taken a final decision on our position on the proposal, and as the vote via written procedure had not yet taken place, it was indicated to the House that negotiations on the replacement agreement had not yet fully concluded in Brussels. This was entirely accurate at that time. I can now confirm that Ireland voted in favour of the Council decision via written procedure on 2 October, indicating that Ireland would not stand in the way of EU consensus and in order to ensure that the EU complied with its legal obligations. However, Ireland also registered procedural and substantive concerns about the Commission's handling of this process. Ireland made clear that we expect to receive regular updates from the Commission on key issues as the agreement is implemented. Ireland also reiterated our view that the compatibility of the agreement with the fundamental principle in international law of the right of people to self-determination should be paramount in the implementation of this agreement. Needless to say, as the Senator would expect from me, I maintain that humanitarian aid should never be viewed as a benefit to any agreement.