Brussels, 14/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 14 December, the Council of Ministers of the European Union decided to appeal the recent ruling of the EU General Court which had called into question the application, on the territory of the Western Sahara, of part of the agreement on agricultural trade between the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco (see EUROPE 11451).
The Council “asked for the introduction of provisional measures in the form of suspending the execution of the ruling in order to ensure complete legal certainty on the effects of the agreement” said High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.
In appealing, the EU does not today intend to change position on the conflict in the Western Sahara. In adopting the EU's position ahead of the 13th EU-Morocco Association Council being held during the evening of Monday 14 December, the member states' foreign affairs ministers (who were meeting earlier in the day) indeed reiterated the EU's total support for the efforts of the UN for “a politically just, sustainable and mutually acceptable agreement that allows the self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara”.
The EU thus “encourages” the parties to show “realism” and “a spirit of compromise”, while hoping “that the efforts for better integration in the Maghreb will contribute to progress in this domain”. The EU furthermore expresses the importance it places on “the respect of human rights, and reiterates the obligations that are incumbent upon each party”.
For Morocco, the General Court's ruling “concerns the Council of the EU exclusively” in as much as it “in no way undermines the agricultural agreement” with it, said Morocco's foreign minister in a press release on Friday 11 December. Rabat nevertheless also expressed “its surprise” at thus seeing a “protocol, which like all signed bilateral agreements, is in line with international law” being called into question.
The Moroccan minister asked the EU to take “appropriate internal measures” and promised to follow “carefully the development of a judicial case with a strong political connotation and will take, if necessary, the measures that are needed”. Following this ruling, he indeed asked about the possibility of maintaining “the contractual structure” that has been built on “long years in the political, economic, human and security domains in a spirit of partnership and respect for internationally recognised values”. (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)