The partnership between Morocco and the European Union (EU) in agriculture and fisheries is at the mercy of repeated lawsuits filed by an entity with no legal status or capacity to act or speak on behalf of the Sahrawi population.
This truth came to light at the opening, Tuesday, of a hearing before the 9th chamber of the EU court (CJEU) in Luxembourg, to examine the eligibility of an appeal lodged by the polisario against the decision of the EU Council that amended the Morocco-EU agricultural agreement to extend tariff preferences to products originating from Morocco’s southern provinces.
Morocco is not a party to this case but the victim of a legal guerrilla war orchestrated by Algeria and the polisario against its trade agreements with Europe.
In their pleadings, the lawyers of the EU supported by those of the French government and the Moroccan confederation of agriculture and rural development (COMADER) immediately stripped the polisario of any legal capacity and any legal status to litigate before the courts of the European Union.
Relying on the jurisprudence of the European Court itself, they considered that previous rulings have settled this issue by specifying that polisario was not entitled, under European and international law, to challenge, before the courts, the treaties duly concluded by the European Union with its various partners.
The fact that the polisario is taking part in talks under the aegis of the UN as part of the political process to settle the Sahara conflict, does not grant it any quality or international legal status, they explained.
Pointing out that the whole argument of the polisario is based on a wrong postulate, the EU lawyers specified that the latter is not the representative of the Sahrawi population as it claims and is therefore not related in any way to these agreements.
In December, the European Commission confirmed that the agricultural agreement between the EU and Morocco which entered into force on July 19, 2019, was properly implemented, which resulted in real benefits for the Southern Provinces, even in times of the Covid-19 crisis.
In its first Assessment Report of the Agreement, the EC had said it has allowed the emergence of a new dynamic and positive and constructive dialogue in the mutual interest of both partners.
Today, the polisario stands once again before the European Court of Justice to file two actions for the annulment of these agreements.
The first act of this guerrilla warfare began in 2015 when the EU Court of Justice reviewed an appeal for annulment of the agricultural agreement with Morocco filed by the polisario.
At the time, Morocco had paused its relations with the EU, calling for protecting its agreements against the separatists’ manipulations.
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