In disregard of two EU Court rulings, the EU Member States have today authorized the EU Commission to negotiations with Morocco for a new fisheries protocol that will also cover occupied Western Sahara.
Two months after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that no Fisheries Partnership between the EU and Morocco can be applied to Western Sahara, the EU Council voted in favour of negotiating a new fisheries protocol with Morocco that will include the waters of occupied Western Sahara.
The EU Commission announced its intention to start the talks with Morocco one month ago. The text of the negotiation mandate was released at the same time, stating that the EU considers that "it is possible to extend the bilateral agreements with Morocco to Western Sahara under certain conditions", but that the arrangement is subject to a resolution of the conflict in a UN context.
Sweden had stated it would oppose a mandate for a new protocol in February 2018 "because Sweden considers that the proposed mandate does not meet the requirements of international law."
On 27 February this year, the EU Court of Justice ruled that the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement is only legally valid if it is not applied to Western Sahara. The ruling was in line with the Court's previous ruling of December 2016, concluding that no EU trade or association agreement could be applied to Western Sahara - due to its "separate and distinct" status - without the consent of the people of that territory.
Kosmos Energy has finally taken down a website that was set up to embellish its oil and gas exploration offshore Western Sahara.
The following overview enlists stock-exchange registered companies with current or recent operations in occupied Western Sahara. Updated 9 March 2025.
The French multinational will not respond to questions about its potential stake in a wind energy project in occupied Western Sahara in partnership with the Moroccan prime minister.
The Belgian-related UAE company Dahamco is to invest several billion dollars in a highly problematic energy project on occupied territory.