Brussels (Belgium), 23 November 2025 (SPS) – Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture on Thursday rejected the new agreement concluded between Morocco and the European Union concerning products originating from the Sahrawi territories under Moroccan occupation, describing it as “shameful,” according to Spanish media reports.
This came during a session held by the committee to discuss the agreement signed between the two sides at the beginning of October, particularly the amendment proposed by the European Commission to the marketing standards regulation. The discussion focused especially on the issue of accurately labeling the country of origin for resources imported from outside the EU into the European market, including products coming from the occupied Western Sahara.
The new EU–Morocco agreement seeks to obtain an exception regarding the “labeling” of the country of origin of fruits and vegetables coming from Western Sahara. Brussels proposed replacing the designation with two administrative regions established by the Moroccan occupation in Western Sahara, in contradiction with the rulings of the European Court of Justice, which stipulate that the country of origin must be clearly identified as “Western Sahara.”
The agreement is seen as an attempt to circumvent the ruling issued by the European Court of Justice on 4 October 2024, which invalidated agreements signed between Morocco and the European Union on the grounds that Morocco and Western Sahara are “separate and distinct territories,” and that the agreements were concluded without the consent of the Sahrawi people through their sole legitimate representative, the Polisario Front.
Members of the Agriculture Committee from all political groups accused the European Commission of yielding to Morocco and attempting to alter the ECJ ruling in order to maintain the trade agreement with Rabat, which the Court had already declared invalid.
The Polisario Front has repeatedly expressed its firm rejection of the new illegal agreement concluded between Morocco and the Council of the European Union, which seeks to extend tariff preferences to include products coming from the occupied Western Sahara. The Polisario Front affirmed that it will confront the agreement through all legal means available to ensure respect for the sovereign rights of the Sahrawi people.
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