EU-Morocco deals not applicable to Western Sahara: EU court

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Wednesday that two political and trade agreements concluded between the EU and Morocco were not applicable to the disputed region Western Sahara.

The top court of the bloc therefore set aside the decision of the General Court of the EU to annul a trade deal with Morocco earlier this year.

The court said in its verdict that the General Court "failed to draw the consequences of the status of Western Sahara under international law."

"In view of the separate and distinct status guaranteed to the territory of Western Sahara under the Charter of the United Nations and the principle of self-determination of peoples, it cannot be held that the term 'territory of the Kingdom of Morocco' encompasses Western Sahara," the court ruled.

In 2012, the EU and Morocco concluded an agreement providing for reciprocal liberalization measures on agricultural products, processed agricultural products and fish and fishery products.

The EU also has the Association Agreement with Morocco on closer political ties.

Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, has been contested since 1975by Morocco and the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement. Endit