Brussels (European Union), September 2, 2026 (SPS) – The European Commission has acknowledged, in an official response to a parliamentary question, that the Euro-Mediterranean Aviation Agreement between the European Union and Morocco does not apply to flights between the territories of EU member states and Western Sahara, once again confirming the territory's separate and distinct legal status from the Kingdom of Morocco.
The response, issued by European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, on behalf of the European Commission, came in reply to a written question submitted by Spanish Member of Parliament Irene Montero concerning the legal basis for flights connecting a number of European cities with the occupied cities of Dakhla and El Aaiún.
The Commission explicitly stated that “the Euro-Mediterranean Aviation Agreement between the European Union and Morocco does not apply to flights from the territory of an EU member state to the territory of Western Sahara,” basing its position on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
This official European acknowledgement constitutes a further confirmation of the accumulated legal gains achieved by the Sahrawi cause before European courts, particularly following the judgments issued by the CJEU on October 4, 2024, which affirmed the principle that Western Sahara is a separate and distinct territory from Morocco and that international agreements concluded between the EU and Morocco cannot automatically be extended to Western Sahara.
The parliamentary question noted that European airlines are currently operating flights between Paris and Dakhla, Madrid and Dakhla, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the occupied city of El Aaiún, despite the fact that the EU-Morocco Aviation Agreement does not cover Western Sahara. It asked the Commission to clarify the legal and administrative basis for these flights and their compatibility with EU law and CJEU rulings.
In its response, the Commission clarified that the legal basis for operating these flights rests on bilateral agreements concluded between the relevant EU member states and Morocco. It noted that the agreement between France and Morocco was concluded in 1957 and notified to the Commission on September 23, 2004, while the agreement between Spain and Morocco dates back to 1970 and was notified to the Commission on July 16, 2004.
The Commission's response is particularly significant as it rules out any attempt to consider European flights to the occupied Sahrawi territories automatically covered by the EU-Morocco Aviation Agreement, explicitly acknowledging that the European-Moroccan agreement does not extend to Western Sahara.
The development comes amid a series of European judicial rulings and institutional positions affirming the distinction between Morocco and Western Sahara, and confirming that the Sahrawi people possess independent rights over their territory and natural resources and that their will cannot be disregarded in any agreement or activity affecting the territory.
The development also comes as the Polisario Front continues its legal and political struggle at the European and international levels in defense of the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence.
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