Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 November 2024
56. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the actions the Government will be taking in relation to trade with the Kingdom of Morocco in light of the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-399/22; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45334/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, trade policy is a competence of the European Commission under Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and referred to as the Common Commercial Policy.
The EU and Morocco established a Free Trade Area as part of the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, signed in 1996, which entered into force on 1 March 2000. The EU and Morocco also signed an Agreement on additional liberalisation of trade in agricultural products, processed agricultural products, and fish and fisheries products, which entered into force in October 2012.
Both parties agreed upon a protocol establishing a Dispute Settlement Mechanism, which entered into force in 2012. Negotiations for a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) started in 2013. The last negotiating round was held in April 2014.
The EU-Morocco Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA), concluded in March 2019, allocates fishing opportunities for the EU in exchange for an overall financial contribution of €208 million. A substantial part of this contribution is used to promote the sustainable development of the fisheries economy in Morocco and the Western Sahara.
In 2021, under the EU Trade Policy Review, the EU has offered to discuss modernising trade and investment relations with Morocco, to better adapt them to today’s challenges, notably in respect of value chains and the greening and digitalisation of respective economies.
In the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Joined Cases C-778/21 P and C-798/21 P and in Joined Cases C-779/21 P and C-799/21 P, delivered on 4 October, the question of the territorial applicability of certain EU-Morocco agreements was considered by the Court. In its judgment, the Court upheld the annulment of the EU’s approval of agriculture and fisheries agreements with the Kingdom of Morocco. The basis for the Court’s decision was that the implementation of an international agreement between the European Union and Morocco in the territory of Western Sahara, as provided for by the agreements at issue, must receive the consent of the people of Western Sahara; however, the Court determined that such consent has not been given in this instance. In the Court’s judgment in case C-399/22, also delivered on 4 October, the Court took a restrictive approach to interpreting the scope for unilateral Member State restrictions on trade, indicating that permissible exceptions to the EU’s Common Commercial Policy are limited. Ireland will, together with our EU partners, give careful consideration to the Court’s rulings.
Ireland’s long-held position is that Western Sahara is a non-self-governing territory. We support the United Nations Security Council Resolutions, which support the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
