EU-Morocco Trade Deal Sparks Sahara Sovereignty Storm

"As the legitimate and sole representative of the Sahrawi people, the Polisario Front categorically rejects this agreement, as it constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and a direct violation of court decisions," it is stated in a press release relayed by SPS, the Sahrawi press agency, which recalls that the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) had ruled in 2016 that Western Sahara is a territory separate and distinct from Morocco, and that the consent of the Sahrawi people is therefore necessary for any agreement concerning it. The Polisario announces "its intention to use all legal means to ensure respect for the sovereign rights of the Sahrawi people," considering that "the illegality of the new agreement is evident and clear."

The Sahrawi independence movement stresses that the agreement "was negotiated in only five days, behind the back of the Sahrawi people, and hastily ratified by a written procedure in order to compel the Member States to respect it, while its provisional application has been used as a means of paralyzing the European Parliament and confronting it with a fait accompli." "In substance, it was decided to amend the legislation of the European Union in order to adapt it to the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by the Kingdom of Morocco," it adds, noting that a new concept called "region of origin" has been created to replace that of "country of origin" in order to circumvent the law.

In the new agreement, "the European Commission undertakes to support the Moroccan agro-industrial sector by directly financing desalination plants in the occupied territories," the Polisario said, specifying that in doing so, "the European Union is providing the Moroccan occupation authorities with the means to pursue their illegal presence in the occupied territories, through repression and systematic violations of fundamental rights, thus consolidating its aggressive colonial war against the Sahrawi people." The Polisario urges the European authorities to reject this text, which came into force this Friday.

This new agreement extends the tariff preferences provided for in the EU-Morocco Association Agreement to products originating from the Sahara. In detail, the text proposes labeling specifying the origin of products from the Sahara and stipulates that products originating from the Sahrawi territory under the control of the Moroccan customs authorities benefit from the same trade preferences as those granted by the EU to products covered by the Association Agreement. In addition, the EU undertakes to finance projects in key sectors of the region related to water resource management, energy or the fight against desertification.