THE European Union's second highest court ruled that eu free-trade deal failed to consider views of the Polisario Front guerrillas who are fighting a war to create the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from the disputed Western Sahara against forces of Morocco and Mauritania.
The EU tribunal quashed political-level decisions on a pact amending the tariff preferences granted to products of Moroccan origin and, also, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement.
A report by Mundubat, a Spanish anti-Israeli NGO, claims that 7-14 per cent of the tomatoes Morocco exports to Europe are from e Dakhla camps, occupied by refugees from Western Sahara fleeing Moroccan forces.
From there on the Algerian border, the tomatoes are transported to Agadir in Morocco, and mixed with tomatoes from the Souss region. Finally they are packaged and labeled as a product of the Alawite kingdom, that is, Morocco.
'In view of the legal definitions of 'people' and 'consent' in international law, the 'consultations' conducted by the institutions with the 'people concerned' did not amount to an expression of the consent of the people of Western Sahara,' the Luxembourg-based court ruled.
But the court said the effects of those decisions would be maintained over 'a certain period' partly in order to legal certainty over the EU's international commitments.
Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, and Morocco's foreign affairs minister Nasser Bourita issued a joint statement saying they would 'take the necessary measures to ensure the legal framework that guarantees the continuation and stability of trade relations.'
The ruling threatens to upset ties with a key southern Mediterranean neighbour in cooperation on security and the control of irregular migration.
The issue of the Western Sahara is considered a top national priority in Morocco. The kingdom suspended in 2016 all contacts with the EU, its main trade and investment partner, when the same court annulled an earlier extension of the two agreements to the disputed territory.
The Polisario Front, which has sought independence of the Western Sahara since the 1970s and has engaged in war with Morocco and Mauritania, has been has been supplied with arms and funding by Algeria and Libya.
SeaNews Turkey
The EU tribunal quashed political-level decisions on a pact amending the tariff preferences granted to products of Moroccan origin and, also, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement.
A report by Mundubat, a Spanish anti-Israeli NGO, claims that 7-14 per cent of the tomatoes Morocco exports to Europe are from e Dakhla camps, occupied by refugees from Western Sahara fleeing Moroccan forces.
From there on the Algerian border, the tomatoes are transported to Agadir in Morocco, and mixed with tomatoes from the Souss region. Finally they are packaged and labeled as a product of the Alawite kingdom, that is, Morocco.
'In view of the legal definitions of 'people' and 'consent' in international law, the 'consultations' conducted by the institutions with the 'people concerned' did not amount to an expression of the consent of the people of Western Sahara,' the Luxembourg-based court ruled.
But the court said the effects of those decisions would be maintained over 'a certain period' partly in order to legal certainty over the EU's international commitments.
Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, and Morocco's foreign affairs minister Nasser Bourita issued a joint statement saying they would 'take the necessary measures to ensure the legal framework that guarantees the continuation and stability of trade relations.'
The ruling threatens to upset ties with a key southern Mediterranean neighbour in cooperation on security and the control of irregular migration.
The issue of the Western Sahara is considered a top national priority in Morocco. The kingdom suspended in 2016 all contacts with the EU, its main trade and investment partner, when the same court annulled an earlier extension of the two agreements to the disputed territory.
The Polisario Front, which has sought independence of the Western Sahara since the 1970s and has engaged in war with Morocco and Mauritania, has been has been supplied with arms and funding by Algeria and Libya.
SeaNews Turkey
