Morocco's permanent representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, sent on Thursday letters to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and to the members of the Security Council, to inform them that «the European Parliament adopted, on January 16, 2019, in Strasbourg, the Exchange of Letters on the Agriculture Agreement between Morocco and the European Union (EU)». This adoption was preceded by several votes «largely favourable at the different bodies of the EU and the European Parliament», including the decision on the signing of the exchange of letters by the Council of EU Foreign Ministers adopted on July 16, 2018, by 27 votes in favor and one abstention, the favorable opinion of the European Committees, adopted by an overwhelming majority, and the adoption by the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA). The process that led to the adoption of this agreement, he said, was marked by an information mission in the Moroccan Sahara region made by an INTA delegation, on Sept 2-5, 2018, during which it visited socio-economic development projects in Laayoune and Dakhla, and met with representatives democratically elected by the Sahara populations, tribal leaders and local NGOs. «Through this adoption, the European Parliament has recognized that its implementation benefits the development of the Sahara region and local populations, recognizing once again the full conformity of this agreement with international law and legality», the Moroccan ambassador said in these letters. «The EU Court of Justice dismissed, in its judgement issued on December 21, 2016, the action for annulment brought by the Front Polisario against the decision to conclude the Agriculture Agreement. Moreover, the Court stressed that the Polisario is not entitled to represent the Sahara local populations and cannot play any role in concluding agreements between Morocco and the EU», the Moroccan diplomat said.
