Thread by @ElwaliWS

Following @MoroccoGate #CORRUPTION scandal in the @Europarl_EN,I believe the public opinion have the right to know couple of details I have witnessed during years of advocacy work on #HR in #occupied #WesternSahara in this House of Representatives and other EU institutions.

I strongly believe that the criminal network is #Morocco made & the use of it by third countries,is diffidently a“service-rendu”by Moroccans who were extremely active in EP for decades.I’m not touching granting Morocco advanced status nor how the association agreement was secured

Before 2010-11,#Morocco was somehow comfortable at #EU level and it’s lobbying were basic.this will have two major turning points in its course:1-2011,the vote lost on fisheries agreement .2-2016,the start of @EUCourtPress’ ruelings on the illegal inclusion of #WesternSahara.

After 2011,lobby firms were deployed such as Palacio & partners,Decher,Covington & Berlin,Hill+Knowlten,G Plus..etc
In order change the EP decision which they succeed in doing in less than 2y and get the illegal fisheries back in place and remove #HR from the negotiation table

After the first ruling from EU court in December 2015,#Morocco realised that lobby firms are not sufficient to pass illegal decisions. Not only in the @Europarl_EN but also @EU_Commission.And I think this is when #MoroccoGate network was established.

Before going into details and names,I would like to state that all suspects are innocent until the judge finds them guilty.However, the following facts can’t be interpreted in any way as accusations. Rather, open questions that remains unanswered!

I personally knew #Panzeri’s relations with #Morocco were suspicious since he accepted the conditions put by #Attmoune when the Parliament was holding a hearing session on #WesternSahara.Attmoune insisted to not have #POLISARIO on the same session. And held two Separate hearings

In 2018,after other rulings from the EU court,the commission prepared its proposal for ratification at EP.INTA and PECH committees are the main concerned ones to debate the files.After huge efforts,INTA agreed to send fact finding mission to #WesternSahara led by @patricialalond2

Among the mission members,the green @HeidiHautala who may have more details on how that“mission”was managed.She issued a separate report due to her disagreement with the mission program and the report content. euobserver.com/opinion/143054. back then,no one bothered to investigate

Lalonde had to resign after a story broke out revealing her ties with #Morocco being board member of @fondamedaUE together with @gillespargneaux and others.euobserver.com/world/143669. Dutch @MarietjeSchaake took over her role as rapporteur

.@berndlange as INTA chair passed the report for vote where @MarietjeSchaake didn’t support her“own report”.here is her explanation vest-sahara.s3.amazonaws.com/wsrw/feature-i… in plenary Italian,French and Spanish MEPs voted in favour,against the will of EU farmers who sees it as unfair competition.

Another astonishing event is the vote on reduction of maximum allowed Cadmium (carcinogenic) level in #Phosphate to be imported into the EU. Many MEPs and especially those pro-#Morocco(Panzeri’s friends)were supportive to more cancer for EU citizens.back then,it wasn’t clear why!

At #PECH committee the process started later than in INTA.we were expecting similar process to INTA but surprisingly at PECH things went fast without debate. It seems #Morocco and its pions learned the lessen from INTA experience. Wrapping it up fast was their priority mission.

When the fisheries agreement reached the plenary,majority voted in favour ignoring #NGOs calls to not ratify such illegal agreement including a letter from @hrw hrw.org/news/2019/02/1… and calls from +89 Saharawi NGOs. wsrw.org/en/a105x4445

During its attempts to circumvent the court rulings,@EU_Commission tried to bypass the key condition put by court (which is THE CONSENT OF THE SAHARAWI PEOPLE)through replacing the consent by consultations & the people by”population” and started “consulting” Moroccan NGOs

The only Saharawi NGO invited for consultations to Brussels (Al-Ghad) ended up not participating and it’s representatives seeking asylum in #Brussles in fear of #Morocco’s revenge.and issued a clear statement on the matter

Here comes the cherry on the cake:The commission in its proposal to the EP,literally state that part of the funds to be used to build housing compounds for Moroccan fishermen in #Occupied #Dakhla in #WesternSahara.An international crime(demographic transfer)that the EP allowed

After all of that,I remain supportive to empowering the EP to monitor other institutions.I believe that the @EU_Commission by proposing an illegal deal for ratification at EP(both trade&fisheries),they were clearly telling #Morocco to go shopping in the EP and so they did.

I didn’t include details on which amendments #MoroccoGate network succeed to block at @Europarl_EN,for one simple reason, ALL AMENDMENTS were blocked. As I earlier tweeted to @EP_President,all u need to do is checking the votes archives to find answers to many annoying questions.

Could be interesting for you.@joelmatriche,@KristofClerix,@LouisColart,@PaulineHofm,@EddyWax,@AndyBounds,@RachidaElAzzz,@icembrero,@Alilmrabet,@EURACTIV,@NikolajNielsen,@euobs,@EP_President,@handelsblatt,@AMKouwenhoven,@derspiegel