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With the help of its lawyer Gilles Devers, the Polisario is appealing against the recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The Front is mainly targeting the current negotiations, kicked off on April the 16th and held between Morocco and the European Commission for the renewal of the fisheries agreement, which will expire on July the 14th.
M’Hamed Khaddad, coordinator with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), believes that discussing the inclusion of the Western Sahara waters in the agreement is contrary to the Court’s two previous rulings, pronounced respectively on December the 21st, 2016 and February the 27th, 2018.
Khaddad urged the European Union to exclude Western Sahara from trade agreements and treaties signed with Morocco. As for the second verdict, he pointed out that the 2014 fisheries agreement is inapplicable to the province's waters.
Brussels ignores the Polisario’s «representation»
The appeal, filed on Friday 15th of June, is part of a campaign that has been launched for several days by MEPs and pro-Polisario associations. Nevertheless, it is difficult for the European Union to decide on the request of Brahim Ghali while negotiations on the fisheries agreement between Rabat and Brussels are still underway.
In fact, the Polisario’s reaction is late, although the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers’ authorization dates back to April the 16th. The appeal answers the last two decisions of the European Commission, made on June the 11th, adopting two amendments related to the association agreement with the Kingdom to include products coming from Western Sahara.
The two measures have seriously undermined the Polisario’s stance, insisting that it is «the only legitimate body that represents the population of Western Sahara». These two amendments are awaiting the approval of the EU Member States and the European Parliament.
For the record, the EU Court of Justice stated in its December 21st 2016 decision that «the Polisario Front is not concerned by the decision of the Council to conclude that agreement. The Court therefore rejects the Front Polisario's action on the ground of lack of standing».
