Bir Lehlou (Saharawi Republic) 04 October 2024 (SPS)- The Presidency of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic today issued a statement in reaction to the verdict issued by the European Court of Justice this morning, considering it a historic victory for the Saharawi people.
The full text of the statement:
Presidency of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Press release – Bir Lehlou 04 October 2024
Historic victory for the Saharawi people :
The Court of Justice of the EU confirms the illegality of the EU-Morocco agreements and definitively rejects the appeals of the Council and the Commission
On 4 October 2024, in two historic judgments delivered by the Grand Chamber, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed the illegality of the EU-Morocco agreements, which were concluded in violation of the Saharawi people’s consent and its permanent sovereignty over its natural resources. The Court definitively dismissed the appeals lodged by the Council and the Commission.
In 2016 and 2018, the Court ruled that, given the separate and distinct status of Western Sahara, the Saharawi people must consent to any agreement applicable to the national territory and its natural resources, irrespective of the alleged benefits. Instead of complying with these rulings, the Council and the Commission decided to renegotiate the association and fisheries agreements so as to explicitly include occupied Western Sahara. In 2021, at the request of the Frente POLISARIO, the EU General Court annulled the decisions to conclude these new agreements.
In today’s judgments, the Court first recalls the whole of the acquis of 2016 and 2018 as an intangible basis, namely that the Western Sahara has a separate and distinct status from the Moroccan territory and that the Saharawi people constitute a subject of international law third to EU-Moroccan relations, whose consent is inescapable.
Referring to resolution 34/37 of the United Nations General Assembly, the Court validated the judgments of the Court of First Instance. It held that the Frente POLISARIO had the legal capacity to bring an action before the EU courts. Through the Court, the Saharawi people now have guaranteed access to the European Union courts to challenge any issue relating to the territorial integrity of Western Sahara and the exploitation of its natural resources. This decisive contribution will prevent any further circumvention of court rulings. As far as consent is concerned, the sham procedure of consultations has been laid to rest once and for all.
The Court’s rulings are a great victory for the Saharawi people, unprecedented in the history of decolonisation, which strengthens them in their struggle for freedom and independence. Marking the triumph of international legality over fait accompli, they deal a fatal blow to the Moroccan occupier, which they deprive of the economic and political levers it needs to maintain its illegal presence in the territory and pursue its illegal policy of colonising the territory through the plundering of Sahrawi natural resources.
In response to the irresponsible actions of certain European States, in particular France and Spain, which, through unilateral decisions, thought they could alter the international status of the territory, the Court’s judgments are a forceful reminder that the question of Western Sahara is a question of decolonisation and that there is no solution other than strict respect for the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination and independence’.