The European Commission is trying to push through a new trade agreement with Morocco for the territory of Western Sahara, in disregard of the Court of Justice of EU judgment of 2016. WSRW has summarised why its approach is wrong.
On 11 June 2018, the EU Commission sent a proposed amendment to the EU-Morocco Trade Protocols to the EU Member States and the EU Parliament for approval. The proposal seeks to extend the scope of the EU-Morocco trade deal into occupied Western Sahara.
Western Sahara Resource Watch has written a small brief outlining the most problematic points of the Commission's approach.
Download the brief here.
EU Parliament to hold Western Sahara debates at committee level?
The European Parliament has expressed itself in favour of holding debates in three parliament committees about the exclusion of Western Sahara from EU-Morocco trade agreements.
EU Commission backtracks on labelling Western Sahara goods
What is EU's position on labelling of products from occupied Western Sahara? The EU Commission has now for the third time published a response to a parliamentary question on the matter, but the latest version fails to address the question.
Why does this EU statement keep disappearing?
A clarification by the EU Commission on labelling of products from Western Sahara was published, then removed, then published again and has now been removed again from EU websites.
EU reaffirms: Western Sahara products to be labelled as such
Two weeks ago, the EU Commission announced that products from Western Sahara should be labelled accordingly, only to withdraw that statement the very next day. Today, the Commission reaffirms its original position.