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

The people of Western Sahara have not given their consent to this deal. In fact, the UN-recognised representative of the Saharawis is the Polisario Front. Not only has it not given its consent but it has indicated that it will take a fresh case to the CJEU to try to block this deal. The CJEU ruling was clear. It said the EU would violate EU law if it included the territory of Western Sahara into a trade agreement with Morocco without the prior consent of the people of Western Sahara.

Instead of asking the Saharawis for acceptance or prior consent, the European Commission undertook a consultation process as to how it wanted an EU-Morocco agreement to benefit the populations. My concern, and that of others, is that it would benefit illegal Moroccan settlers and not the indigenous Saharawis. Some 94 Saharawis groups have condemned the EU for its negotiations with Morocco and this fake consultation. There was no discussion. The rapporteur of the consultation report, Ms Patricia Lalonde, MEP, had to resign her position before this report came to the floor of the European Parliament. It was found that she was sitting on the board of a Moroccan lobby group. There was no consultation or discussion with the European Parliament. Does the Minister accept we are sending the wrong message in relation to this deal?

See this speech in context