Liberal leader blocks public debate on EU-Morocco deal

Lalonde's resignation came on the back of an investigation into Morocco lobbying by EUobserver and the subsequent launch of an internal parliament probe into possible conflicts of interest among several other MEPs implicated in the affair.

Verhofstadt, a former Belgian PM and a staunch federalist, has yet to respond to an emailed question on the issue and his office did not pick up phone calls from this website.

His move was confirmed by separate internal sources at the European Parliament.

It leaves questions unanswered on the back-room lobbying scandal, as well as European Court of Justice rulings which scrapped similar EU-Morocco trade deals in the past.

The plenary agenda is set by the secretary generals of the various political groups, which had, on Wednesday (9 January), agreed to have the Morocco debate the following Monday in Strasbourg.

But on Thursday (10 January), Verhofstadt, at the conference of presidents, where the leaders of the parliament's political groups meet, motioned to have it removed from the plenary agenda.

EUobserver understands he received the backing of the centre-right EPP, the conservative ECR, and some other far-right factions.

It means MEPs at the Strasbourg plenary will now vote on the deal on Wednesday (16 January) without a broader discussion, unless the Greens manage to get it back on the agenda.

The Moroccan government has been using the issue of migration and security to push through its demands on the trade deals amid blowback from civil society groups and human rights defenders.

Lalonde last month stepped down from her role as rapporteur on the agricultural deal, known as the EU-Morocco Association Agreement.

She was replaced by Dutch liberal Marjiete Schaake, who will not be standing in the next EU elections.

The deal is controversial because it extends into the disputed Western Sahara, an area roughly the size of the United Kingdom.

The United Nations does not recognise the Western Sahara as part of Morocco, but the European Union has cut trade deals with Rabat to exploit the region's resources.

The latest iteration demands the European Commission first obtain the consent of the local population in the annexed area, which appears to be disputed.

Meanwhile, some 100 MEPs are demanding a resolution to have the latest deal referred back to the European Court of Justice.

"The plenary will also have to take a decision on that, before taking a decision on the trade agreement," said Swedish socialist MEP Jytte Guteland, who leads a parliament inter-group on the Western Sahara.

"We are voting on something that is obviously not respecting our own courts [ECJ]," she said.