EU Court Rejects Commission’s Request to Alter Western Sahara Demographics (WSRW)
LONDON, February 6, 2025 – The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has dismissed a request from the European Commission that sought to distort the demographics of Western Sahara. According to the international observatory Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), this decision reaffirms the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
“The CJEU rejected the European Commission’s request to amend specific paragraphs of its rulings from 2024,” WSRW stated on its website, noting that the Commission questioned whether the majority of the population of Western Sahara resides outside the territory occupied by Morocco.
On October 4, 2024, the CJEU issued two rulings determining that the EU-Morocco preferential trade agreement and the EU-Morocco fishing agreement do not apply to Western Sahara, as the people of the territory did not consent to these agreements, the NGO recalled.
In these rulings, the Court included clarifying paragraphs that distinguish between the “population” of Western Sahara and the “people” of Western Sahara—those who possess the right to self-determination.
“The latter, largely displaced, is the sole holder of the right to self-determination regarding the territory of Western Sahara. Indeed, the right to self-determination belongs to the relevant people, not to the general population of the territory, of which, according to estimates presented during the hearing before the Court by the Commission, only 25% would be of Sahrawi origin,” the CJEU concluded.
“On October 24, 2024, the European Commission submitted requests to the Court to rectify the paragraphs of each ruling—the very paragraphs that specify that the people of Western Sahara, who have the right to consent under their right to self-determination, are predominantly displaced,” WSRW noted.
“The Commission claimed these paragraphs contained inaccuracies and asserted it was unclear whether a majority of the Sahrawi people actually reside outside the territory,” the NGO added, pointing out that the request, which was supported by the French and Spanish governments, has not yet been made public.
At the end of last week, the Court released its findings on its website. On January 15, 2025, the CJEU issued orders rejecting the Commission’s request to amend its decisions regarding fishing and trade, determining that no obvious inaccuracies existed in the specified paragraphs that would justify a correction.
The order notably emphasized that “the initial judgments are upheld as rendered, with no modifications to the contested sections.”
For the Court, it has been established that the majority of the Sahrawi people do not currently reside in the territory, having been displaced, while a significant proportion of the current inhabitants of the territory are not Sahrawis.
“This new order from the Court appears to definitively block the Commission’s attempt to circumvent the requirement for consent by substituting the Sahrawi people with other stakeholders,” highlights the observatory monitoring the exploitation of natural resources in occupied Western Sahara.
“The European Commission’s effort to distort the demographics of Western Sahara is a blatant act of manipulation aimed at undermining the clear decisions of the Court. It seeks to create doubt where none exists, all to justify its ongoing complicity with Morocco’s illegal exploitation of the territory,” denounced Sara Eyckmans from Western Sahara Resource Watch.
“It not only constitutes an insult to international law, but also represents a grave affront to the Sahrawi people, who have been striving for decades for recognition of their legitimate right to self-determination,” she remarked. She emphasized that “by dismissing the requests for correction, the CJEU reaffirms its interpretation of international law in this context, particularly concerning the principle of self-determination and the rights of the people of Western Sahara.”
