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Advocate General Tamara Capeta’s recommendations concluded that the agreement failed to treat the territory of Western Sahara as ‘separate and distinct’ from the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco. But she said that Europe could negotiate with Morocco as the territory’s administering power on behalf of residents as long as they’re treated separately.
A legal adviser to the European Union’s top court recommended annulling an agreement with Morocco, which allowed European boats to fish off the disputed Western Sahara’s coast.
The adviser said the agreement didn’t fully take into account the consequences on the rights of the people of the disputed territory to benefit from the natural resources of the waters. The advocate general for the Court of Justice of the EU backed the court’s earlier ruling and recommended it reject appeals that sought to uphold Europe’s 2019 Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement with Morocco and send the case back to a lower court. The court in 2021 ruled in favor of the pro-independence Polisario Front that the agreement violated the rights of people in the disputed Western Sahara. The agreement laid out where European vessels with Moroccan permits could fish and included Moroccan-controlled waters west of the disputed territory.
Advocate General Tamara Capeta’s recommendations concluded that the agreement failed to treat the territory of Western Sahara as ‘separate and distinct’ from the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco. But she said that Europe could negotiate with Morocco as the territory’s administering power on behalf of residents as long as they’re treated separately.
The court generally follows recommendations from appointed legal experts like Capeta and Thursday’s recommendations strike a blow against Morocco and the European authorities who appealed the ruling. The court will likely consider her recommendations and return with a ruling in the months ahead. Since the four-year accord expired in July, the court’s looming decision can shape future agreements, not any in effect.
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Morocco was not a party to the case, though trade associations for its farmers and fishermen backed the appeals. Mustapha Baitas, the country’s government spokesperson, underlined on Thursday that the recommendations were non-binding.
