The Court examined the appeal adopted by the European Council unanimously by Member States against the judgment of the European Union (TEU) of last December 10 on the EU-Morocco agricultural agreement.

France, Spain, Portugal and the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development (COMADER) intervened in support of the European Council at the hearing. Other Member States reiterated their full support for the defense of the European Council.

This hearing, said the ambassador, demonstrated that court of first instance" took the wrong path accepting appeal by the Polisario Front."

"The hearing showed that Polisario is not a subject of international law, recognized as a national liberation movement by international organizations and not by Security Council and not recognized by any Member State the European Union, "said Mr. Alem.

It also demonstrated that the court applied arbitrarily identity between territory (the Sahara) and an individual (Polisario) with indeterminate status, he said.

"The court overruled the requirement of a legal personality, essential to any entity other than an individual and clearly limited by consistent jurisprudence with responsible entities and interlocutors in the EU which is not the case of Polisario "added the Moroccan diplomat.

From different arguments, says Mr. Alem, in international relations the EU Council has a very wide discretion, limiting the judicial monitoring over the inadequacy of the decision in relation to the objective.

This allowed almost all litigants to emphasize the importance of political and economic relations of the EU with a major partner such as Morocco but also the certainty all the Member States had when they adopted protocol, that would also apply to the Sahara, said the ambassador.

Firmly rejecting the fallacious arguments of the opposing party, Spain, reaffirmed that it is no longer eligible to administer the territory since February 28, 1976 when it notified the UN withdrawal from the territory.

For his part, the representative of France indicated that it requires no inclusion clause for an international agreement applying to non autonomous territories under the administration of his country concluding that all agreements signed by France will automatically apply to these territories, the ambassador added.

The hearing allowed to break any alleged robbing of the Sahara, Mr. Alem said, adding that COMADER lawyers, based on national and  international reports such as UNDP, have demonstrated the higher growth rate of schooling, life expectancy and quality of life in the southern provinces than in other provinces. Mr. Alem finally said that the General Counsel will make its finding on September 13 and that the decision of the Court is expected before the end of the year.

-News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas-