Eu Morocco aviation deal update excludes western Sahara

The European Parliament has endorsed a revised aviation agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco, explicitly excluding the Western Sahara from its scope. This decision aligns with rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which previously determined that Western Sahara is a separate and distinct territory from Morocco.

On July 8, the European lawmakers approved the updated protocol, which extends the agreement’s application to Croatia—a new EU member since July 1, 2013—without altering its core provisions. By approving this revised deal without including Western Sahara, the EU has reaffirmed its stance that it does not recognize any Moroccan authority or sovereignty over the territory or its airspace.

The Saharawi Working Group on Natural Resources and Legal Affairs welcomed the Parliament’s vote, calling it a significant legal and political victory. In their statement, the group described the exclusion of Western Sahara from the updated EU-Morocco aviation treaty as undeniable recognition of Saharawi sovereignty.

“By strictly limiting the treaty to Morocco’s internationally recognized borders, the European Parliament has made it clear that Western Sahara remains a separate territory where Rabat exercises no administrative or sovereign control,” stated Oubi Bouchraya Bachir, the group’s president.

The Working Group, formed to safeguard national heritage and address related legal matters, emphasized that this legislative measure strengthens the international legal boundary between Western Sahara and Morocco.

The Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), an international monitoring organization, also praised the Parliament’s decision. While acknowledging that the protocol is primarily a technical update to accommodate Croatia’s EU membership, the WSRW noted that it does not expand the territorial scope of the aviation agreement.

The WSRW recalled the CJEU’s 2018 ruling, which established that EU-Morocco agreements cannot apply to territories beyond Morocco’s internationally recognized borders. The organization highlighted that the European Commission had repeatedly confirmed this interpretation, instructing EU carriers that the aviation deal does not cover flights to or from Western Sahara.