Fra:
Abba Malainin [mailto:[email protected]]
Sendt:
11. maj 2017 00:06
Emne:
Letter from POLISARIO Front to the Danish members of European Affairs Committee related to the
meeting about EU-Morocco trade agreement
Letter from POLISARIO Front to the Danish members of European Affairs Committee
Dear members of Danish Parliament European Affairs Committee,
I have the privilege to write to you in my official capacity as POLISARIO Front representative in
Denmark.
As you may know, on 19 April 2017, the European Commission has proposed to the Council to adopt
a decision authorizing the EC to negotiate adaptations of the 2000 EU-Morocco Association
Agreement. The objective of this proposition is to include products originating illegally in Western
Sahara in the trade preferences under the EU-Morocco Association Agreement.
In this respect, on 21 December 2016, the Court of Justice of the European has delivered an important
judgment for the people of Western Sahara, by ruling that, according to the principle of self-
determination, the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco can include, either de jure or de facto, Western
Sahara in their trade relations without the prior consent of the Sahrawi people
[1].
As the UN-recognized representative of the people of Western Sahara
[2],
the POLISARIO Front
strongly opposes this initiative by the European Commission that grossly violates their right to self-
determination and the ruling of the CJEU.
Whereas the Court has explicitly ruled that the
de jure
inclusion of Western Sahara in the
EU-Morocco Association Agreement would be contrary to international law, the European
Commission continues to pretend that the Kingdom of Morocco can negotiate and conclude
international agreements applicable to Western Sahara.
However, as recalled by the Court[3], the Kingdom of Morocco has no sovereignty over the
Sahrawi territory and it occupies
illegally Western Sahara. In particular, given the “separate
and distinct status” of Western Sahara under international law
[4],
legal acts adopted by the
Kingdom of Morocco, in its sovereign capacity, in relation to Western Sahara, are null and
void according to EU law.
Therefore, the Kingdom of Morocco cannot express the consent of the people of Western
Sahara to be bound by the proposed adaption of the EU-Morocco Association Agreement.
By the same token, no decentralized or regional Moroccan authority, as set up by Morocco
according to its domestic law, is qualified to express such consent.
According to the ruling of the Court
[5],
the prior consent of the people of Western Sahara
can only be expressed by their UN-recognized representative, the POLISARIO Front.
Considering the lack of treaty-making capacity of Morocco in Western Sahara under
international law, the Council has no legal basis, under EU law, to authorize the Commission
to negotiate adaptions to the 2000 Association Agreement and its protocols.
In this regard, during the proceedings before the Court, the European Commission
rightfully submitted that the
de jure
inclusion of Western Sahara in the EU-Morocco
Association Agreement, without the consent of the Sahrawi people, would violate
international law, especially the principle of self-determination
[6].