From the European Court of Justice comes a clear opinion over a long-lasting issue
by Emanuele Bonini
The European Union doesn't recognise the ruling rights of Morocco over Western Sahara. This was reaffirmed by Melchior Wathelet, advocat general at the European Court of Justice, in his personal opinion made public today. Called to decide whether the bilateral trade agreements between EU and Morocco are applicable to the Western Sahara, the advocat general ruled it out. In his opinion Western Sahara «is not part of Moroccan territory and, therefore, neither the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, nor the Liberalisation Agreement on the liberalisation of trade in agricultural and fishery products are applicable to it». These considerations are not new in Europe, and they create both a political and judicial problem. On the institutional side the European Union exclude any sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara. In giving his opinion, Melchior Wathelet recalled that the largest part of Western Sahara is controlled by the central government of Rabat, which «considers itself as having sovereignty over that territory». This doesn't mean they have it. In fact, the advocate general emphasises that «the European Union and its Member States have never recognised that Western Sahara is part of Morocco, or that the latter has sovereignty over that territory». Something won't be welcomed by Moroccan authorities, always claiming the Western Sahara as part of the country. It is already possible to expect formal reactions from Rabat and a diplomatic case to be managed.
On the economic side, the opinion expressed by the member of the European Court of Justice will reshape the trade deals already in place. The decision was taken looking at practices and precedent judicial cases. Since 1963 Western Sahara has been included by the UN on the list of non-self-governing territories. As regards the question whether the scope of international treaties or agreements concluded by the States administering non-self-governing territories also extends to those territories, it has clearly specified that the practice of the majority of those States shows that such an extension must be expressly provided for during the ratification of treaties or agreements. But in the specific case, neither the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, nor the Liberalisation Agreement contain any provisions seeking to extend their scope of application to Western Sahara, nor was such an extension expressly provided for when those agreements were ratified by Morocco. So the European Union negotiated commercial deals without considering the particular situation of the territory claimed y Morocco. According to international law, the extension of the scope of a bilateral treaty is not allowed to a territory which constitutes a third party in relation to the other parties to that treaty, and the Western Sahara specifically constitutes such a territory with respect to the EU and Morocco.
Related articles:
- Western Sahara, a (deliberately) frozen question
The European Union doesn't recognise the ruling rights of Morocco over Western Sahara. This was reaffirmed by Melchior Wathelet, advocat general at the European Court of Justice, in his personal opinion made public today. Called to decide whether the bilateral trade agreements between EU and Morocco are applicable to the Western Sahara, the advocat general ruled it out. In his opinion Western Sahara «is not part of Moroccan territory and, therefore, neither the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, nor the Liberalisation Agreement on the liberalisation of trade in agricultural and fishery products are applicable to it». These considerations are not new in Europe, and they create both a political and judicial problem. On the institutional side the European Union exclude any sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara. In giving his opinion, Melchior Wathelet recalled that the largest part of Western Sahara is controlled by the central government of Rabat, which «considers itself as having sovereignty over that territory». This doesn't mean they have it. In fact, the advocate general emphasises that «the European Union and its Member States have never recognised that Western Sahara is part of Morocco, or that the latter has sovereignty over that territory». Something won't be welcomed by Moroccan authorities, always claiming the Western Sahara as part of the country. It is already possible to expect formal reactions from Rabat and a diplomatic case to be managed.
On the economic side, the opinion expressed by the member of the European Court of Justice will reshape the trade deals already in place. The decision was taken looking at practices and precedent judicial cases. Since 1963 Western Sahara has been included by the UN on the list of non-self-governing territories. As regards the question whether the scope of international treaties or agreements concluded by the States administering non-self-governing territories also extends to those territories, it has clearly specified that the practice of the majority of those States shows that such an extension must be expressly provided for during the ratification of treaties or agreements. But in the specific case, neither the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, nor the Liberalisation Agreement contain any provisions seeking to extend their scope of application to Western Sahara, nor was such an extension expressly provided for when those agreements were ratified by Morocco. So the European Union negotiated commercial deals without considering the particular situation of the territory claimed y Morocco. According to international law, the extension of the scope of a bilateral treaty is not allowed to a territory which constitutes a third party in relation to the other parties to that treaty, and the Western Sahara specifically constitutes such a territory with respect to the EU and Morocco.
Related articles:
- Western Sahara, a (deliberately) frozen question
No comments:
Post a Comment