After months of waiting, the European Commission has finally responded, following Morocco's demand on November 25, 2024, by taking steps to address the October 4, 2024 rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which excluded Western Sahara from EU–Morocco agreements. The European Commission is preparing to launch negotiations to revise the EU–Morocco trade agreement. The proposal, presented on July 22, will be reviewed on September 10 by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), just three weeks before the European Court of Justice (CJEU) rulings take effect on October 4, 2024, which exclude products from Western Sahara from the agricultural and fisheries agreements signed with Morocco. According to a document from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission's proposal seeks to address two major challenges. First, it aims to «align the agreement with the European Court of Justice ruling, EU law, and international law». Denmark, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency until December 31, 2025, added that the proposal also seeks to «maintain existing trade relations and thus allow for the importation of products from Western Sahara at the same preferential tariff rates applicable to Morocco». To comply with the CJEU's ruling, Brussels suggests the creation of a monitoring mechanism to continuously verify that the people of Western Sahara actually benefit from these trade advantages. Who will benefit from financial compensation? The CJEU had made clear that «the consent of the people of Western Sahara to the implementation of the 2019 EU–Morocco trade agreements on fishing and agricultural products in this non-autonomous territory is a condition for the validity of the Council's decisions approving them on behalf of the Union». The Court stressed that the 2019 consultations between Rabat and Brussels «did not target the people of Western Sahara, but rather the populations currently residing in the territory. Since a significant part of the Sahrawi people now lives outside this territory, these consultations were not capable of establishing the consent of that people». In addition, the European Commission's proposal seeks to address another CJEU ruling requiring that products from Western Sahara be labeled accordingly. The Danish diplomatic note revealed that the new offer «will include provisions stipulating that imported agricultural products be labeled as originating from Western Sahara». The same note further emphasized: «The proposal implies that the Commission must ensure that a future agreement does not create obligations for the people of Western Sahara and that they receive tangible, substantial, and verifiable benefits resulting from the agreement, proportional to the exploitation of Western Sahara's natural resources». However, it does not specify which entity should receive the financial compensations that the EU intends to grant to the «people of Western Sahara». For context, the CJEU recalled in its October 4, 2024, ruling that «the Polisario Front is a privileged interlocutor in the process conducted under the auspices of the United Nations for determining the future status of Western Sahara. The Polisario Front meets the conditions to challenge the contested decisions before the Union's court, in the interest of said people». In a speech marking the 49th anniversary of the Green March on November 6, 2024, just weeks after the CJEU ruling, King Mohammed VI stressed that «Morocco's partnerships and legal commitments will never be made at the expense of its national unity and territorial integrity», sending a clear message to the EU.
