Although the conclusions of an advocate general are not binding, the Luxembourg-based court most often takes them into account when issuing a ruling.
An Attorney General of the Court of Justice of the European Union has endorsed this Thursday the trade agreement between the Twenty-Seven and Morocco, but has asked to annul the fishingconsidering that the first treats the territory of Western Sahara and the adjacent waters as “separate and distinct” from Morocco and the second does not.
Although the conclusions of an advocate general are not binding, the Luxembourg-based court most often takes them into account when issuing a ruling.
On the other hand, the same jurist, the Croatian Tamara Capetahas requested this Thursday that melons and tomatoes from the territory of Western Sahara include in their labeling a mention of the “country of origin” that reflects their origin from that territory and not from Morocco.
The opinion published today refers to the agreement that the EU and Morocco signed in 2019 to extend the preferential tariff treatment allowed by the association agreement between the parties also to products originating in the territory of Western Sahara.
The same year in which the pact was signed, in 2019, the Polisario Front requested its annulment, ensuring that the Council did not respect the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people. In a 2021 ruling, the General Court annulled the Council decision approving the agreement.
In her opinion today, the lawyer disagrees with the General Court (first instance of European Justice) and considers that “erred” by accepting the annulment appeal presented by the Polisario Front.
On the other hand, the Attorney General has asked this Thursday the court based in Luxembourg to annul the decision on which the fishing agreement between the EU and Morocco is based by not treating the territory of Western Sahara and adjacent waters as “separate and different” from Morocco. “The Council (Member States) did not respect the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara,” he considers.
Your opinion concerns the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement and the protocol for its implementation, signed between the Council (on behalf of the EU) and Morocco in January 2019.
In June 2019, the Polisario Front requested the annulment of that decision before the Court of Justice, claiming to represent the people of Western Sahara.
In a ruling handed down in September 2021, the EU Court annulled the decision establishing the fisheries agreement, but that same year the European Commission and the Council appealed that court ruling.
In her conclusions today, Advocate General Tamara Capeta proposes that the Court dismiss these appeals and confirm the ruling of the Court of Justice that annuls the Council’s decision, although for reasons different from those given by the court.
Source: Eitb
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