EU-Morocco DCFTA talks likely to start end of February
Article image
The Moroccan government and the European Commission are expected to commence negotiations for the highly problematic Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) on 25 February 2013.
Published 29 January 2013


The EU Member States have given the European Commission green light to begin the process of negotiations, after having seen the results of the Commission’s “scoping exercise - a consultation of stakeholders likely to be affected by the envisioned Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.

But one major stakeholder has yet again been overlooked: the Saharawi people. If past experience is anything to go by, the EU is not likely to differentiate between the territories of Morocco and of occupied Western Sahara.

On 26 June 2012, 31 Saharawi NGOs from the occupied territories and the refugee camps in southwest Algeria, wrote a letter to the European Commission requesting occupied Western Sahara be excluded from the scope of the DCFTA, so as to be in line with international law.

Though the Commission referred to the importance of meeting with local civil society groups in its partner country, no effort was made to meet the Saharawi groups and discuss their concerns.

Pending the Moroccan government’s acceptance of the results of the European Commission’s scoping exercise, official negotiations will kick off on 25-26 February 2013 in Morocco.

The DCFTA will allow for Morocco’s progressive economic integration into the EU single market, offering the country more opportunities to export its goods to the EU and to attract European investments. In return, the EU countries will be granted better access to the Moroccan market.


Global Diligence defends operations on occupied land

The legal advisory firm Global Diligence, which presents itself as expert on ‘heightened due diligence’, misrepresents international law in occupied Western Sahara.

16 October 2025

MEPs shocked by Commission's Western Sahara bypass

In a hearing at the European Parliament earlier this week, lawmakers expressed outrage at how the Commission sidestepped them to push through a new agreement covering occupied Western Sahara, in violation of EU Court rulings.

10 October 2025

EU pushes secretive Morocco trade deal covering Western Sahara

As EU ambassadors give their green light to a new Morocco trade deal, the public is still denied access to the very agreement they are voting on - a striking case of secrecy in Brussels.

01 October 2025

"A declaration of war" - new EU agreement reactions

A wave of reactions is rippling across Europe following the news that the EU is moving ahead with a new trade agreement in occupied Western Sahara. The vote is scheduled for tomorrow.

30 September 2025