Brussels tries to avoid the CJEU and pushes for a trade agreement with Morocco

BrusselsThe European Union is attempting a new trade agreement with Morocco that includes Western Sahara. After the European Court of Justice would overthrow the previous pact Because it considered that the autonomy of the Sahrawi people had been violated, Brussels has presented to the Member States a new trade agreement with Rabat a few days before the deadline imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for it to take Western Sahara into account in the pact, according to the newspaper Abc and diplomatic sources have confirmed to ARA.

Brussels and the member states in favor of signing the agreement assure that they have included small improvements in the trade agreement that comply with the jurisprudence established by the Luxembourg court. The European Commission promises to finance projects to make water and energy more accessible in the Sahara, as well as to support the fight against desertification. It will also invest in desalination plants and increase humanitarian aid to Sahrawi refugee camps. Furthermore, as requested by the CJEU, products from Western Sahara will carry a label stating that they have been produced in the Sahrawi region, but they will be issued by the Moroccan authorities.

In this way, Brussels interprets the CJEU ruling in favor of its interests and considers that the explicit consent of the Sahrawi people is not necessary to close this new trade agreement, which it understands does not entail any obligations for Western Sahara and only brings it benefits. An interpretation that, for example, the NGO Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRH) does not share and assures that it is not sufficient to assume the consent of the Sahrawi people in a trade agreement such as this one.

An express agreement

The deadline set by the CJEU in Brussels to terminate the trade agreement that violated the autonomy of the Sahrawi people ends this October 4th. Thus, from September until now, the European Commission has hastily processed procedures and concluded negotiations with Morocco that normally drag on for months. In fact, diplomatic sources indicate to the ARA that the member states are likely to vote on the initiative this Wednesday. In any case, it is a measure that must have the support of a qualified majority in the state governments, a fairly broad consensus that is not always easy to achieve among EU countries.