Brussels, June 21, 2014 (SPS) - The recourse for the annulment of the EU-Morocco Fesheries Agreement presented to the European Court of Justice by the Polisario Front 14 March was published on 16 June 2014 in the Official Journal of the European Union under the code (Case T-180/14).
In its appeal, the Polisario Front called on the Court to annul afro-mentioned agreement and condemn decision taken by the Council of the European Union in this regard.
Given that the Polisario Front is the direct representative of the Saharawi people, the decision was also taken without consulting the demandant party, while international law requires that the exploitation of natural resources of a people of a non-autonomous territory must be carried out in consultation with their representatives.
The Polisario Front also explained that the contested decision would allow the entry into force of an international agreement over the territory of Western Sahara, while no Member State of the EU has recognized the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over Western Sahara..
The contested decision, moreover, would strengthen the grip of the Kingdom of Morocco on Western Sahara territory, contrary to the assistance provided by the EU Commission to the Saharawi refugees.
It would not be consistent with the EU's usual response to the violations of the obligations under peremptory norms of international law and contrary to the objectives of the common fisheries policy.
For the Polisario Front, the signed fisheries pact between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco is contrary to Article 2 of the Partnership Agreement, while it violates the right to self-determination.
It also underlined that its appeal is based on infringement by the agreement of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to the extent that the contested decision would allow the entry into force of a protocol by which the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco would set fishing quotas in waters not under their sovereignty and would allow EU vessels to exploit fisheries resources belong to the Saharawi people.
The decision also violates the right to self-determination, while the contested decision reinforces the stranglehold of the Moroccan occupation on Western Sahara.
Such decision violates the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and Article 73 of the UN Charter, and the Saharawi party was not consulted where the contested decision would allow the exploitation of natural resources under the sole sovereignty of the Saharawi people.
By providing financial support for the colonial policy of the Moroccan Kingdom in Western Sahara, the contested decision violates the international humanitarian law.
Finally, it is a question of international responsibility, while the contested decision entails the international responsibility of the European Union. (SPS)
090/089/TRA