CJEU Advocate concludes EU-Morocco fisheries agreement should be annulled

The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has concluded that the court should «annul the Council decision concluding the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco».

In an opinion published on Thursday March 21, following an appeal lodged by the Polisario, the EU top lawyer Tamara Capeta argued that «in not treating the territory of Western Sahara and the waters adjacent thereto as separate and distinct from that of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Council failed to respect the right of self-determination of the people of Western Sahara».

This opinion comes after an appeal lodged in 2019 by Polisario. In its appeal, the Front argues that the EU «Council failed to respect the right to self-determination of that people» by concluding a fisheries agreement with Morocco.

In her new opinion, the CJEU Advocate General «proposes that the Court reject these appeals and uphold the General Court’s judgment to annul the Council’s decision. However, the Advocate General proposes to base that annulment on different reasoning».

#ECJ #AG Ćapeta: the #Court should annul the Council decision concluding the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco ? https://t.co/ATb3CgbPxg

— EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) March 21, 2024

Accordingly, Capeta stressed that the «Front Polisario fights for one of the three possible outcomes of the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara: the creation of an independent State», adding that the separatist movement «should be viewed as reflecting the interests and wishes of (at least) part of the people of Western Sahara».