“The Union did not provide the necessary guarantees to ensure that the use of the natural resources of the Western Sahara would benefit the people of that territory”
European Court of Justice Advocate-General Melchior Wathelet said the fishing agreement between the EU and Morocco is “invalid for the fact that it is applicable to the Western Sahara and to its adjacent waters”, in concluding statements regarding a case brought by the Western Sahara Campaign (WSU), an independent volunteer organisation.
“By making that agreement, the Union violated its obligation to respect the right of self-determination of the Western Sahara population” and “it did not provide the necessary guarantees to ensure that the use of the natural resources of the Western Sahara would benefit the people of that territory”, Wathelet said.
The advocate-general’s opinion is generally taken from the European Court of Justice’s sentences
