Discussion Legal Opinion WS fisheries postponed at very last minute
A legal opinion arguing that EU fisheries offshore occupied Western Sahara must be suspended, was supposed to be discussed yesterday in the EP’s Fisheries Committee. This opinion drafted by the European Parliament’s legal service, was dropped off the agenda at the final minute.
The European Parliament’s legal opinion follows the UN’s Legal Opinion from 2002, stating that Morocco’s exploitation of occupied Western Sahara’s natural resources should benefit the Saharawi people in order for these economic activities to be legal.
Contrary to the European Commission, the Parliament’s legal service has found no proof that this is the case.
The EP’s legal service had already delivered this opinion back in July 2009, but the text was still up for public debate. Already scheduled at the bottom of the loaded agenda of the EP’s Fisheries Committee, Chairwoman Carmen Fraga Estévez decided to adjourn the discussion until the next meeting of 23rd of February due to time constraints. A judgment call which did not go down well with several other MEPs, calling for an open debate before the next EU-Moroccan joint committee meeting, held in Rabat next week.
The Joint-Committee meeting between Morocco and the EU only takes place once a year.
Swedish MEP Isabella Lövin managed to squeeze in a question directed to the Commission: What evidence does the Commission have that the Saharawi people have benefitted from the EU-Moroccan FPA, and does the Commission deem this proof to be satisfying?
Fraga Estévez was adamant that the Commission was not to respond today. She stated that it was more important to prioritise giving time to the Spanish Minister of fisheries.
30 December 2009, 25 Saharawi organisations sent a letter to the Commission pointing out that the Saharawi people have not been consulted in relation to the EU fisheries in their country, and that they have seen no benefits stemming from the EU activities in their occupied land. Polisario Front, the Saharawi liberation movement, has stated the same on numerous occasions. Yet, the EU-Moroccan agreement contains no references whatsoever to the Saharawi people.
“Finally, we see an opinion from an EU institution which is in compliance with international law, as outlined by the UN Legal Office in 2002. It is disappointing that this critical opinion was not discussed in the end. It would have been both important and interesting to hear the Commission’s response to this text, before next week’s joint committee meeting in Rabat”, says Sara Eyckmans, international coordinator of Western Sahara Resource Watch.
“The EU must respect international law and stop paying an occupying power to fish in disputed waters. The EU’s implicit political support to Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara ultimately tars the EU’s reputation as a neutral bystander to the UN-led peace process”, Eyckmans continued.
The EU has been fishing in waters offshore Western Sahara since 2007. No states recognise the Moroccan sovereignty claims over Western Sahara. Spain has almost all the licences under the EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement.
WSRW is currently coordinating the international Fish Elsewhere campaign, which demands the EU to stop undermining the UN’s efforts to decolonise the territory.
For further questions or comments:
Sara Eyckmans WSRW international coordinator coordinator@wsrw.org
The EU considers to pay Morocco to fish in occupied Western Sahara. An EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement from 2013 would be both politically controversial and in violation of international law.
The international Fish Elsewhere! campaign demands the EU to avoid such unethical operations, and go fishing somewhere else. No fishing in Western Sahara should take place until the conflict is solved.
