Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It will come down to a referendum. Would the Minister not accept that it is completely unacceptable that the Moroccans continue to export products from Western Sahara into the EU, as they did before the ruling of the European Court of Justice?

There are two cases pending before the European Court of Justice regarding the EU-Morocco fisheries partnership agreement. The agreement secures EU fishing rights in Moroccan and Western Saharan waters in exchange for Morocco receiving €40 million annually, nearly half of which was supposed to be spent on developing the fishing industry in Morocco.

The EU approved funding of specific projects, including projects in Western Sahara. This means that Brussels is directly assisting the Moroccan Government in developing its infrastructure in a territory that, according to the European Court of Justice, lies outside of Morocco's internationally recognised borders. Would the Minister not agree that this is wrong and should stop?

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