Moroccan negotiations with EU collapse

After a new round of negotiations, Morocco and the European Union have again failed to reach an agreement over fishing rights off Moroccan waters.

The EU Fisheries Commissioner, Franz Fischler, said the Moroccan offer would not be beneficial to the European fleet.

Talks in Brussels to renew a deal that expired in 1999 broke down over the financial aid wanted by Morocco to develop its own fishing industry and restrictions it wanted to impose on the European fleet.

The Moroccan Fisheries minister, Said Chbaatou, said his country was demanding a fairer deal -- not more money. Mr Fischler said he would appeal to EU governments for money to compensate some four-hundred Spanish and Portuguese ships that used to fish in Moroccan waters.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service