Several EU countries support association agreements with Morocco after European Court ruling
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has definitively annulled the European Union's (EU) fisheries and agriculture agreements with Morocco on the grounds that they violate the rights of Western Sahara.
The European court thus understands that for the EU to sign an international agreement with Morocco on this region, the consent of the Saharawi people is required, which does not exist in the eyes of the European justice system.
An annulment of agreements that had been suspended since July 2023 following a ruling by the General Court of the EU (CJEU).
The CJEU thus put an end to the dispute over the fisheries agreement with Morocco and its protocol, by dismissing the appeals of the European Council and the European Commission, in line with the judgment of the EU General Court of 2021 and the conclusions of Advocate General Tamara Capeta.
The application of this protocol expired on 17 July 2023, which meant the suspension of the activity, something that particularly affects Spain due to its fishing activity in the area.
Following this ruling, the EU Member States and several MEPs in the European Parliament have reaffirmed their support for the strategic and economic partnership with Morocco.
The Moroccan kingdom argued against the ruling on the need for legal certainty with regard to the agreements signed, in this case with the EU. ‘Morocco demands that the Council, the European Commission and the EU member states take the necessary measures to respect their international commitments, preserve the achievements of the partnership and provide the Kingdom with the legal security to which it is legitimately entitled, as a partner of the EU on several strategic issues’, according to the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Spain and France, two of the most relevant EU countries and important economic allies of Rabat, reiterated their full commitment to the partnership with the North African nation, as did other EU countries.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told the Spanish Congress Foreign Affairs Committee that Spain will continue to ‘preserve and promote’ relations with Morocco.
France also reiterated its commitment to the partnership with Morocco. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that EU-Moroccan relations are of strategic importance.
Brussels also supported the joint declaration by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in which the EU reaffirmed its commitment to the partnership with Morocco.
José Manuel Albares stressed that the partnership with Morocco is essential for the stability of the region and that relations between Madrid and Rabat will not be weakened by the ruling of the European Court of Justice. He stressed that trade relations between the two countries reached a value of 22 billion euros in 2022, making Morocco one of Spain's most important trading partners, after the United States and the United Kingdom.
Fishing activity is very important for Spain and Morocco and the trade agreements between the two countries in this sector are very relevant because they fully involve the fishing fleets of Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Galicia, since 92 of the 138 licences that fish in the waters around Western Sahara are related to fishing activity in Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Galicia. Therefore, the annulment of the fishing agreements is something to be taken into account.
However, with regard to the annulment in the agricultural sphere, there will be a 12-month extension ‘in view of the serious negative consequences for the Union's external action that its immediate annulment would entail’ and ‘for reasons of legal certainty’, precisely an issue on which Morocco demands respect in order to know where it stands when signing international economic agreements of this magnitude. Legal certainty is vital in this type of trade and economic ties.
Other EU nations such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary also defended the important link established with Morocco, which is considered a key country at all levels in all kinds of partnerships with the EU.
Support for Morocco's Western Sahara initiative
The CJEU based the annulment of the EU's fisheries and agriculture agreements with Morocco on the alleged violation of Western Sahara's rights as the Saharawi population was not represented with a voice and vote to accept these pacts. This Sahrawi representation has been claimed for many years on the initiative of the Polisario Front, which is supported by Algeria, Morocco's great political rival in North Africa.
It is difficult to say whether this Sahrawi population is related to the 80% of Sahrawis living in Western Sahara, in the so-called southern provinces of Morocco, or the 20% of Sahrawis living in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria, who suffer difficult living conditions and who have in several cases reported repression by the Algerian authorities and the Polisario Front. Exactly who the Sahrawi population encompasses when it comes to deciding on various issues would have to be delimited.
In any case, up to 18 European countries already approve Morocco's proposal for broad autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty as the most serious, credible and realistic way of resolving the Sahrawi dispute, which has lasted almost five decades.
Morocco proposes a formula of broad autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty, respecting the resolutions of the United Nations (UN), which seeks to develop the region to the maximum in all aspects, granting the Saharawi authorities great room for manoeuvre and reserving defence and foreign relations policies for the Moroccan state. This scenario would give the Saharawi territory an important status and the security of representation by a state such as Morocco, which seeks the best social, economic and developmental future for the area.
As many as 18 European countries support Morocco's proposal for Western Sahara, and more than 100 nations around the world support the Moroccan kingdom on this issue, demonstrating the significant international backing the Moroccan kingdom has on this issue. Important nations such as the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Germany and Spain have given their approval to the Moroccan initiative for the Sahrawi territory.
On the opposite side is the Polisario Front, with the support of Algeria, which advocates holding a referendum on independence for the Saharawi people, which has less support on the international stage and is difficult to implement due to problems in compiling the electoral roll, as various analysts have pointed out.