La Decisione Fronte Polisario II della Corte di Giustizia dell’Unione Europea e il Diritto all’Autodeterminazione del Popolo Sahrawi

Abstract

On October 4, 2024, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) revisited the issue of trade liberalization and sustainable fishing agreements between the European Union (EU) and the Kingdom of Morocco (Front Polisario II). The CJEU declared these agreements invalid insofar as they applied to goods originating from Western Sahara because they were concluded without the consent of the “people” entitled to self-determination in the territory.

This article critically examines the Front Polisario II ruling in light of international law, highlighting its strengths and shortcomings. A key innovation of the Front Polisario II decision lies in its identification of the “people” entitled to self-determination in Western Sahara. The Court clarified that this group comprises the descendants of the indigenous Sahrawi population, including Sahrawi refugees and exiles, and excluding Moroccan settlers in the occupied territory.

On the other hand, the CJEU controversially suggested that the consent to the agreements could be implied if the agreements demonstrably provided "specific, tangible, substantial, and verifiable" benefits to the Sahrawi people. This interpretation appears to dilute the essence of self-determination and intertwines principles of occupation law and decolonization, leading to conceptual ambiguities. The Court’s reliance on socioeconomic benefits as a proxy raises concerns about perpetuating an illegal situation in Western Sahara, indicating a missed opportunity to assert a stronger stance on self-determination and non-recognition of unlawful territorial occupation.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Andrea Maria Pelliconi: orcid.org/0009-0004-0919-4558

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