Press Release: Verdict of the EU Court of Justice a historic victory for the Sahrawi people

The Presidency of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic issued a press release today in response to the verdict delivered by the European Court of Justice this morning, considering it a historic victory for the Sahrawi people.

The full text of the press release is attached:

Presidency of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Press Release

Bir Lehlou, October 4, 2024

Historic victory for the Sahrawi people: The EU Court of Justice confirms the illegality of the EU-Morocco agreements and definitively rejects the appeals of the Council and the Commission.

On October 4, 2024, in two historic rulings delivered by the Grand Chamber, the European Court of Justice confirmed the illegality of the EU-Morocco agreements, which were concluded in violation of the consent of the Sahrawi people and their permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. The Court definitively rejected the appeals of the Council and the Commission.

In 2016 and 2018, the Court ruled that, given the separate and distinct status of Western Sahara, the Sahrawi people must consent to any agreement applicable to the national territory and its natural resources, regardless of the alleged benefits. Instead of complying with these rulings, the Council and the Commission decided to renegotiate the association and fishing agreements to explicitly include occupied Western Sahara. In 2021, at the request of the POLISARIO Front, the EU General Court annulled the decisions to conclude these new agreements.

In today’s verdicts, the Court first reaffirmed the 2016 and 2018 rulings as an intangible foundation, stating that Western Sahara has a separate and distinct status from Moroccan territory and that the Sahrawi people are a third party in EU-Morocco relations, whose consent is indispensable.

Furthermore, referring to UN General Assembly Resolution 34/37, the Court upheld the rulings of the General Court. It judged that the POLISARIO Front has legal standing to bring cases before EU courts. Through the POLISARIO Front, the Sahrawi people now have guaranteed access to the EU judiciary to challenge any issues affecting the territorial integrity of Western Sahara and the exploitation of its natural resources. This decisive ruling will prevent any future circumvention of judicial decisions. Regarding consent, the fraudulent consultation process is definitively buried.

The Court’s rulings represent a great victory for the Sahrawi people, unprecedented in the history of decolonization, and strengthen their struggle for freedom and independence. Marking the triumph of international legality over the fait accompli, the rulings deal a fatal blow to the Moroccan occupier, depriving it of economic and political leverage to maintain its illegal presence in the territory and pursue its illegal policy of colonizing the territory by plundering Sahrawi natural resources.

In response to the irresponsible actions of certain European states, particularly France and Spain, which through unilateral decisions thought they could alter the international status of the territory, the Court’s rulings strongly reaffirm that the question of Western Sahara is a decolonization issue and that there is no solution outside the strict respect for the right to self-determination and independence of the Sahrawi people.