Brussels, April 16, 2018 (SPS) - The Polisario Front condemns the EU Council’s decision on Monday to authorize the European Commission to negotiate an amendment to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement in order to explicitly include Western Sahara, in violation of the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The condemnation was expressed in a communiqué by Polisario Front representative to Brussels.
The EU fisheries ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, authorized talks with Morocco on a new protocol to their fisheries agreement that includes Western Sahara, while the ECJ ruled in late February, that this agreement is not applicable to Western Sahara and its adjacent waters.
The current protocol to their fishing agreement expires on July 14th.
On 21 March, the European Commission has adopted a proposal of the EU Council to extend the current EU-Morocco fisheries agreement to the "non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara" under some conditions, like the inclusion of a "revision clause to take into account a mutually acceptable political agreement (...) that would allow the self-determination of Western Sahara people."
According to the Polisario Front, "no guarantee announced in the negotiating mandate can divert attention from the fundamental illegality of this process." (SPS)
062/SPS/APS