The new rapporteur for the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) wrote, Wednesday, on its website that she will be voting «in favor of the resolution tabled by a cross-party group of MEP's to ask the ECJ for an opinion». In a long article on the EU-Morocco agreement, Marietje Schaake stated that the resolution, submitted by the ALDE group, «does not mean we ask the ECJ to decide for us, it means we will be able to take a vote with more legal certainty later». «This is primarily a legal question, and there is no doubt the agreement will be brought before the ECJ again», Schaake stressed, adding that the resolution is intended to make sure that the agreement «meets ECJ criteria, and is not struck down again». Marietje Schaake referred to a different amendment, which she tabled on behalf of her group, «asking the European Commission to work towards also extending trade preferences to that part of the Western Sahara not administered by Morocco». The two amendments have been rejected by the other MEPs as confirmed by Marietje Schaake's assistant, contacted Friday by Yabiladi.
