EU-Morocco agricultural agreement doesn’t apply to Western Sahara

BRUSSELS- The agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco, signed in 2012, on the mutual liberalization of the trade of agricultural and fishing products can’t apply to the territory of Western Sahara, concluded Wednesday the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

“... Considering the status of Western Sahara as a separate and distinct territory in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the peoples’ self-determination principle, it is excluded to consider that the expression “territory of the Moroccan Kingdom,” which defines the territorial field of the association and liberalisation agreements, includes Western Sahara, and therefore these agreements do not apply to this territory,” said CJEU in a communiqué.

CJEU reaffirmed the findings of its advocate general, submitted on 13 September 2016, underlining that the association and liberalization agreements concluded between EU and Morocco are not applicable to Western Sahara.

The Court, which reached a verdict at the end of an expeditious procedure on the request of the Council of the European Union, underlined some rules of the international practice, stipulating that when a treaty intended to apply not only to the sovereign territory of a State but also beyond, this treaty must expressly anticipate it.