Letter correspondence with Atlas Copco, 2017
Published 10 April 2017


23 March 2017, WSRW letter to Atlas Copco. Download here.


Atlas Copco reply mail to WSRW, 10 April 2017 below:
"Thank you for your letter regarding Atlas Copco’s operations in Western Sahara.
As stated in previous communication, as well as on our website, Atlas Copco’s sells products to a Moroccan customer who also has one mine located in Western Sahara. In 2008, Atlas Copco sold two drill rigs to this site through the customer in Morocco. Atlas Copco has enhanced efforts to detect and ensure that no future indirect or direct sales in these regions go to projects that may violate international law. Atlas Copco always complies fully with all trade laws, regulations and sanctions. There is no new information that we can share about the concerned business or the customer.
Kind regards,
Sofia Svingby
Vice President Corporate Responsibility
Atlas Copco AB"


EU-Morocco Statement: autonomy without self-determination, law without lawfulness

A joint statement that came out of last week’s EU-Morocco Association Council asks readers to believe in a fiction: that an undefined autonomy plan imposed by an occupying power can satisfy the right to self-determination, and that respect for international law can coexist with the systematic ignoring of the EU’s own highest court.

02 February 2026

Greenland Yes, Western Sahara No? The EU’s self-determination test

As the European Union rightly rallies behind Greenlanders’ right to decide their own future in the face of external pressure, a test of the EU’s real commitment to self-determination is quietly unfolding in Brussels.  

22 January 2026

The CJEU Court Cases

Keeping track of the many legal proceedings relating to Western Sahara is not easy. This page offers an overview of the cases concerning the territory that have been before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

19 January 2026

New report: Certified occupation

International certification standards embellish Morocco’s controversial trade with fisheries and agricultural products in occupied Western Sahara, new report documents.

16 December 2025