The European Parliament has endorsed an updated air services agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco, explicitly excluding Western Sahara from its scope. This decision aligns with rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which consistently recognizes the territory as separate and distinct from the Kingdom of Morocco.
The revised protocol, approved by lawmakers on July 8, extends the agreement’s application to Croatia—a country that joined the EU on July 1, 2013—but does not alter its core provisions. By formalizing Western Sahara’s exclusion, the EU reaffirms its position that Rabat holds no administrative or sovereign authority over the territory or its airspace.
The Sahrawi Working Group on Natural Resources and Legal Affairs welcomed the vote, calling it a legal and political milestone. In a statement, the group hailed the decision as an undeniable recognition of Sahrawi sovereignty, emphasizing that limiting the agreement to Morocco’s internationally recognized borders reinforces the territory’s distinct status.
Oubi Bouchraya Bachir, the group’s president and ambassador, stressed that the decision “strictly confines the treaty to Morocco’s recognized borders, confirming Western Sahara’s separation from Moroccan jurisdiction.”
Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), an international monitoring group, also praised the outcome. While the protocol is a technical update to accommodate Croatia’s EU membership, the organization noted that it does not expand the agreement’s territorial scope. The CJEU had previously ruled in 2018 that EU-Morocco accords could not apply to Western Sahara, and the Commission has reiterated this stance to EU carriers.