Spanish People's Party calls for exclusion of Western Sahara from EU trade deals

The Spanish People’s Party (PP) has called for the complete exclusion of Western Sahara from trade agreements signed between Morocco and the European Union. The demand comes as the European Commission explores ways to bypass rulings by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which annulled the agricultural and fisheries agreements for including products from Western Sahara.

According to El Independiente, citing party sources, the PP insists that Western Sahara must be entirely excluded from any trade deal between the EU and Morocco. This position puts the party at odds with both the European Commission and its own allies in the European People’s Party group, who had previously supported agreements that included the disputed territory. In 2019, despite an ECJ ruling declaring such agreements illegal, the EPP backed a revised trade deal that still covered Western Sahara.

The European Commission, meanwhile, is seeking a legal framework to preserve the flow of Moroccan agricultural and fishery products to European markets. A document issued by the Danish presidency of the Commission outlines plans to negotiate with Morocco to adapt the 2018 agreement to the ECJ’s ruling, while retaining the same customs benefits as before.