Brussels (Belgium), December 10, 2025 (SPS) – The European Parliament on Wednesday hosted a broad political seminar dedicated to discussing “The Political Implications of the EU-Morocco Trade Agreement on the Future of the UN Peace Process in Western Sahara.” The meeting coincided with a massive public demonstration in Brussels rejecting the trade deal signed in early October 2025 between the European Union and Morocco.
The seminar sought to counter what participants described as “the European Commission’s argument” defending the deal as a mere economic agreement with no political impact on the UN-led peace process in Western Sahara. The speakers insisted that the agreement “directly violates the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and undermines UN efforts.”
Oubi Buchraia Bachir: the agreement serves the Moroccan occupation and offers no development for Sahrawis
Oubi Bucharia Bachir, Advisor to the Sahrawi President and Head of the Committee on Natural Resources and Legal Affairs, outlined the legal and political background of the agreement. He explained that the EU has long justified signing agreements with Morocco by claiming they are “economic agreements for the development of Western Sahara and the strengthening of its economy.” However, he stressed that “this argument is misleading,” adding that the real objective is “to serve Morocco and provide it with financial means to strengthen its illegal military occupation of Western Sahara through economic control and the imposition of a fait accompli.”
The Sahrawi diplomat noted that the roots of these agreements go back to “the illegal Madrid Tripartite Accords,” which allowed Spain to continue plundering Sahrawi natural resources after its nominal withdrawal in 1975. He added that Spain’s accession to the European Union in 1986 led to the incorporation of the economic interests contained in those accords into European partnership policies. Therefore, he stressed, “the link between today’s agreement and the conspiracy against the Sahrawi people on November 14, 1975 is extremely direct.”
He warned against incorporating Western Sahara into Morocco’s territorial framework within the agreement, stressing that this “contradicts the status of Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory and the rulings of the European Court, which affirm that the Kingdom of Morocco and Western Sahara are separate and distinct territories.” Such an approach, he said, constitutes an assault on the Sahrawi people’s right to determine the final status of the territory.
Oubi Bucharia pointed out that the EU continues to turn a blind eye to international law due to what he called “the specter of King Hassan II’s statement” from the early 1990s: “If we cannot export Moroccan tomatoes to Europe, then we will end up exporting terrorists to Europe.” He argued that this remark “still haunts Brussels and influences the positions of some European institutions.”
He highlighted the importance of the coming legal battle, affirming that the European Parliament stage will be decisive, especially after what he described as “a political victory by an overwhelming majority” in the vote held on November 26 to overturn the controversial labeling clause within the trade agreement. Although technically lost by a single vote, he said, “the result encourages us to move forward—it is a battle we have no choice but to win.”
Chair of the EU Parliamentarian solidarity Group: the conflict is also European
Andreas Scheida, Chair of the European Parliament’s Friendship Group with the Sahrawi People, stressed that the Western Sahara conflict is not only African but also European due to “Spain’s historical and legal responsibility as the colonial power that failed to complete the decolonization process.”
He declared that “the time has come to resolve the conflict and allow the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination,” warning that the recent trade agreement “has deepened the crisis instead of contributing to a solution, undermining UN efforts and obstructing the settlement process.”
Ana Miranda: a parliamentary majority against the agreement
Ana Miranda, MEP from the Greens/EFA Group, affirmed that there is a clear will within the Parliament to overturn the agreement. She pointed out that the recent vote revealed “a majority rejecting the agreement from various political groups,” stressing that this majority “will be decisive when the deal is presented for parliamentary approval.”
European Solidarity Movement: protecting Sahrawi resources is a central battle
Pierre Galand, President of the European Coordination for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People, emphasized that the struggle to protect Sahrawi natural resources “is a central pillar of European solidarity work,” as reflected in the conclusions of the Coordination’s 49th annual meeting held recently in Paris. Galand announced that the solidarity movement “will support the European parliamentary bloc in the coming stages to overturn the agreement,” stressing that its rejection within the European Parliament “will send a powerful message to political authorities attempting to trample on the law and on the Sahrawi people’s rights in service of a narrow agenda aligned with the Moroccan occupation.”
The seminar comes amid a growing wave of activism across Europe involving civil society organizations, political actors, and European parliamentarians, all working to confront agreements that exploit Western Sahara’s resources and legitimize Morocco’s presence in the territory, in defiance of European court rulings and international law. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
Related blogs
