Strasbourg, Jan 16 2019 (SPS) - MEPs of the parliamentary group (Peace for Western Sahara) has urged the European Parliament to vote against the controversial EU-Morocco trade deal that includes Western Sahara We the undersigned Members of the European Parliament are deeply concerned over the controversial proposal to extend the EU-Morocco trade agreement to Western Sahara, a proposal which is to be voted on Wednesday 16th January.
"We deeply express our concern over the controversial EU-Morocco trade agreement on Western Sahara, which is due to be voted on Wednesday," the press release said.
The European Court of Justice has clearly established in its 21 December 2016 judgement that consent of the people of Western Sahara is required for any deal to be valid.
“The proposed agreement does not in any form demonstrate that the consent of the Saharawi people has either been sought or obtained. A failure to fully comply with international and EU law through the proposed agreement would raise serious concerns over the counter-productive role of the EU in the UN-led political process, by pre-determining outcomes of the political process.” the press release adds
The press release went on saying that until all major legal and political issues are addressed, we will reject the proposed agreement, and we urge our fellow MEPs to follow suit and demand urgent clarity over a number of major concerns before voting on the agreement. We repeat our concerns also for the proposed EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, which is scheduled to be voted next month.SPS
125/090/TRA