The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Frenchman Jean Richard de la Tour, will deliver his opinion on the appeal seeking to annul the September 29, 2021, judgment favoring the Polisario on March 21st. This announcement traditionally precedes the CJEU judges' final verdict and is eagerly awaited by Morocco, the EU, and the Polisario. It is expected to conclude the process initiated on October 23-24, 2023, with the examination of the EU Council's appeal. In September 2016, Advocate General Melchior Wathelet opined that «Western Sahara is not part of Morocco's territory», rendering EU-Morocco trade agreements inapplicable there. The CJEU subsequently rejected the agricultural agreement between Rabat and Brussels. In January 2018, Wathelet's opinion deemed the EU in «violation of the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination» and upheld a complaint by the British NGO Western Sahara Campaign (aligned with the Polisario) regarding resource exploitation without benefiting the territory's population. Jean Richard de la Tour assumed the Advocate General role on March 23, 2020, with his mandate ending on October 6, 2024.
