Morocco’s foreign ministry said a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Friday annulling its trade deals with the EU showed blatant political bias. the court said the European Commission had breached the right of people in Western Sahara to self-determination by concluding trade deals with Morocco.  ruling contained legal errors and suspicious factual mistakes, the ministry said in a statement, urging the European Council, the commission and member states to uphold their commitments and preserve the assets of the partnership with Morocco.

Western Sahara, a tract of desert the size of Britain, has been the scene of Africa’s longest-running territorial dispute since colonial power Spain left in 1975 and Morocco annexed the territory. Earlier on Friday, the European Union’s top court ruled definitively that fisheries and agriculture agreements reached between the bloc and Morocco five years ago failed to include consultations with the people of Western Sahara.

In its ruling, the European Court of Justice said that for the 2019 EU-Morocco farm and fisheries agreements to enter force, they must receive the consent of the people of Western Sahara. However, such consent has not been given in this instance. It said the deals were concluded in breach of the principles of self-determination and the relative effect of treaties. The Luxembourg-based court dismissed in their entirety legal appeals by the EU’s executive branch and the council representing the 27 member countries.

The fisheries agreement laid out where European vessels with Moroccan permits could fish and included Moroccan-controlled waters west of the disputed territory. The four-year accord has already expired, so the court’s decision will only influence future agreements. The court acknowledged that the EU institutions had launched a consultation process before concluding the agreements, but said this involved people who were present in the territory, irrespective of whether or not they belong to the people of Western Sahara.

Ennywealth