EU-Morocco agricultural agreement does not apply to Western Sahara, says CJEU

Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Melchior Wathelet said Tuesday that EU-Morocco agreement on liberalization of the trade of agricultural produce and fishing does not apply to Western Sahara, which "is not part of the Moroccan territories."

Western Sahara "is not part of the Moroccan territory" and, therefore, "neither EU-Morocco association agreement nor the liberalization agreement is applicable to it," Wathelet wrote in his findings submitted on Tuesday.

In his recommendation to the court, which will deliver its sentence later, the Advocate General of the CJEU stressed that neither the European Union nor any of its member States recognizes the alleged Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory on the UN non-autonomous territories since 1963.   

"The European Union and its member states have never recognized Western Sahara as part of Morocco or under its sovereignty."