Dáil debates

Tuesday, 29 January 2019

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Trade Agreements

6:05 pm

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The EU-Morocco agreement on reciprocal liberalisation of trade entered into force in 2012. This agreement was the subject of a legal challenge at EU level and in December 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the EU-Morocco Association Agreement and the liberalisation agreement between the EU and Morocco did not apply to Western Sahara.

In May 2017, the Council authorised the European Commission to open negotiations with a view to providing a legal basis to grant preferences to products originating in Western Sahara. Last year, EU member states agreed to sign the proposed new agreement and the European Parliament gave its consent earlier this month.

Ireland has consistently emphasised that any amendment to the existing agricultural agreement with Morocco must be consistent with the December 2016 judgment of the CJEU. My Department has received assurances from the European Council legal service that the new agreement fully respects both international law and the Court of Justice of the European Union's judgment.

In addition, the proposed amended agreement is understood to be purely provisional, pending the resolution of the dispute through the UN, and in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. The agreement is entirely without prejudice to the position of the EU on the question of sovereignty over Western Sahara.  In other words, there is nothing in the terms of the proposed agreement or its protocol which would imply EU recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty or sovereign rights over Western Sahara.

Ireland and the EU recognise the United Nation’s classification of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory. We fully support the ongoing UN efforts to assist the parties in reaching a lasting political resolution to the dispute in Western Sahara. The personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Horst Köhler, has conducted extensive stakeholder consultations in recent months. These consultations resulted in a round table meeting on Western Sahara in Geneva in December last with representatives from Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania. I welcome this meeting and I hope that it will lead to the renewal of the negotiations process. This is the only path towards a sustainable resolution of the conflict which is mutually acceptable and provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

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