London, February 6, 2025 (SPS) - The International Observatory for Monitoring the Resources of Western Sahara revealed that the Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected a request from the European Commission aimed at distorting the demographic structure in Western Sahara, emphasizing that this decision reaffirms the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
The observatory stated in a post on its website that "the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected the European Commission's request regarding the modification of specific paragraphs from its rulings issued in 2024," noting that "the latter questioned whether the majority of the population of Western Sahara lives outside the territories occupied by Morocco."
On October 4, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued rulings concluding that trade and fishing agreements between the European Union and Morocco are not applicable to Western Sahara, as the people of the region did not consent to them, according to the same source.
In its decisions, the court added paragraphs clarifying that there is a distinction between the "inhabitants" of Western Sahara and the "people" of Western Sahara—those who possess the right to self-determination—and that the latter, which has largely been displaced, is the sole bearer of the right to self-determination concerning the region of Western Sahara.
