Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Higgins for raising this important matter at a critical junction of EU external trade policy and international law.While it is a complex and sensitive issue, I appreciate the opportunity to outline Ireland's position.

On 4 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the ruling of the General Court of 29 September 2021 annulling the Council decision on the conclusion of the 2018 agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco. This agreement concerned the amendment of Protocols Nos. 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European communities and their member states, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled the people of Western Sahara must give their consent to any new agreement concluded by the EU. In the view of the court, the right to self-determination belongs to that people, and not only to the population of that territory in general, which for the most part has been displaced. This consent may be either given explicitly or implicitly. In the particular case of a people of the non-self-governing territory, the court ruled the consent of that people to an international agreement, in which it has the status of a third party, and which is to be applied in the territory to which its right to self-determination relates, may be presumed so long as certain conditions are satisfied. First, the agreement in question must not give rise to an obligation for that people. Second, it must provide for the proportional benefit of that people. This decision required a negotiation of a new trade deal between the EU and Morocco and the court set a deadline of 4 October 2025. Ireland has taken note of the judgment of the CJEU and the specifics of the judgment with regard to Western Sahara.

In July 2025, the Commission submitted to the Council a recommendation for a Council decision concerning the opening of negotiations on the amendment of the 2018 agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco. The negotiations on the replacement agreement commenced in September with a view to meeting the deadline of 4 October 2025. As the process has evolved, Ireland has kept progress in those negotiations under review to ensure any new proposed arrangements respect the conditions established by the court and the duty of the European Union to comply with both EU and international law. Ireland continues to be guided by these principles. Ireland’s long-standing position on Western Sahara is one of full support for the UN-led process, including the MINURSO mission and the efforts of the personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to achieve a political solution to this long-standing dispute. It is our hope that these efforts will help to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

Both Ireland and the European Union support the efforts of the United Nations to find an acceptable political solution that would provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, consistent with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations. Ireland does not have a view on the outcome of that solution so long as it is approved in a genuine exercise of self-determination.