Amid investigations into potential breach of code of conduct due to her membership on the Board of pro-Morocco lobby group, MEP Patricia Lalonde resigned today as the European Parliament's rapporteur on the proposed extension of the EU-Morocco trade deal into occupied Western Sahara.
The global match-maker of private accommodation has delisted providers in Israeli settlements and Crimea, but seem to apply different standards to similar situations of occupation. Saharawis object.
95% of the energy needed by Morocco to plunder the phosphates of Western Sahara is delivered via SiemensGamesa windmills. The company has now prolonged its service contract for the controversial windmills for another 15 years, while continuing to refuse to comment on Saharawi consent.
The EU Ministers for Competitiveness have discretely approved the proposed EU-Morocco fish deal, that is intended to apply to occupied Western Sahara. Sweden was the only Member State to oppose, citing the lack of consent of the people of Western Sahara.
BREAKING: the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the EU-Morocco Aviation Agreement does not apply to Western Sahara.
Changes could soon take place in the ownership of a controversial oil block in occupied Western Sahara. New player: Wolverine Energy and Infrastructure from Canada.
The Ambassadors of the EU Member States have just now voted in favour of the proposed EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement and Protocol, that is intended to apply to occupied Western Sahara. A final vote by the EU's Fisheries Ministers is imminent.
The UK-French company Vigeo Eiris certified and defended a Moroccan-Saudi energy project in occupied Western Sahara. WSRW calls on the board to engage on the matter.
A letter signed by 95 Saharawi civil society organisations appeals to the EU Parliament and Council "to prevent EU plundering of a people's fish in Western Sahara".
The EU's Foreign Affairs branch claims to Member States and the European Parliament that the Western Sahara liberation movement does not want to meet to discuss a new EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement in Western Sahara. Polisario uttered its deep frustration over this misrepresentation in a letter to the EEAS.
Major conflict of interest arises following revelations that the European Parliament's rapporteur on the Western Sahara trade file is Board Member of a pro-Morocco lobby group.
Previous confidential EU legal opinions on trade with and fisheries in occupied Western Sahara were later found to be wrong by the EU Court of Justice. WSRW has today requested the EU Council to publish the current legal documents.
Saharawi refugees protested against the Swiss-Swedish company's contract for the Moroccan government on occupied land.
While the EU Member States have not yet concluded on the newly proposed EU-Morocco fisheries agreement for waters offshore occupied Western Sahara, the Commission is already pushing the European Parliament to get to work.
The Swiss-Swedish technological giant ABB got contracted to build the infrastructure that is set to connect a new wind farm in occupied Western Sahara to Morocco's national electricity grid.
The text of the new EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement - which includes Western Sahara in its geographic scope but has been negotiated exclusively between the EU and Morocco - has now been presented to the European Parliament for approval.
WSRW challenges these 23 MEPs to read the Opinion they favoured, and come up with one solid argument to back up their vote. The 23 suggest including occupied Western Sahara in a trade agreement with Morocco.
The Moroccan government is now using all possible arguments to pull individual Euro-parliamentarians in their direction. At stake: the extension of a new EU-Morocco trade agreement to the territory it holds under occupation.
Members of the European Parliament request more clarity before voting on the Commission's proposed trade deal for Western Sahara. Meanwhile, 93 Western Sahara civil society groups lament the Parliament rapporteur's lack of diligence on the file.
During the business summit set up by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco (CFCIM) in occupied Western Sahara, French companies could sign contracts on the spot – “putting them at risk of financial and reputational damages”, says WSRW.