ISDS Case Map
Western Sahara
A fresh legal row may be brewing over the EU’s trade links with Morocco, after the two sides finalised a controversial new fisheries agreement, following almost three months of negotiations.
Morocco and the European Union have finalized a new fisheries agreement.
Several EU-flagged vessels have blatantly ignored and violated the EU Court judgment invalidating the EU-Morocco fish agreement in Western Sahara.
The Western Sahara liberation movement, Frente Polisario, has issued a statement condemning today's EU Council decision to include Western Sahara in the Morocco trade agreement.
The proposals violate the EU and its Member States’ obligation of non-recognition of Morocco’s breaches: the right to self-determination of people, the prohibition on aggression, and some of the ‘intransgressible rules’ of international humanitarian law.
The Commission tries to misguide the Member States concerning the consultation process launched to "comply" with the European Court of Justice, which had rejected the inclusion of Western Sahara in the EU-Morocco Association Agreement.
The EU Commission received heavy critique from the European Parliament for its suggestion to include occupied Western Sahara in a trade deal with Morocco.
The Polisario Front brought an action for annulment of the Council of the European Union's decision, which allows the European Commission to open negotiations with Rabat to extend EU-Morocco fishing agreement to Western Sahara.
The EU Commission has today presented its suggested trade arrangement for occupied Western Sahara, which still requires the approval of the EU Member States and the EU Parliament.
The Western Sahara Resource Watch stressed that the Sahrawi people’s consent is indispensable in any a trade agreement between the European Union and Morocco.
