European Commission Acknowledges That the EU–Morocco Aviation Agreement Does Not Apply to Western Sahara
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 the territory of Western Sahara, thereby reaffirming once again the territory’s separate and distinct legal status from the Kingdom of Morocco.
The response, issued by the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apollos 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 several European cities with the occupied cities of Dakhla and Laayoune.
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.
This official European acknowledgment constitutes a further confirmation of the accumulated legal victories achieved by the Sahrawi cause before European courts, particularly following the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued on 4 October 2024, which reaffirmed the principle that Western Sahara is a separate and distinct territory from Morocco, and that international agreements concluded between the European Union and Morocco cannot automatically be extended to the Sahrawi territory.
The parliamentary question pointed out that European airlines currently operate flights between Paris and Dakhla, Madrid and Dakhla, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and occupied Laayoune, despite the fact that the EU–Morocco Aviation Agreement does not cover Western Sahara. It called on the Commission to clarify the legal and administrative basis for these flights and their compatibility with EU law and the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In its response, the Commission explained that the legal basis for operating these flights rests on bilateral agreements concluded between the Member States concerned and Morocco. It noted that the agreement between France and Morocco was concluded in 1957 and notified to the Commission on 23 September 2004, while the agreement between Spain and Morocco dates back to 1970 and was notified to the Commission on 16 July 2004.
The Commission’s response is particularly significant because it puts an end to any attempt to consider European air services to the occupied Sahrawi territory as automatically covered by the EU–Morocco Aviation Agreement. It explicitly acknowledges that the European–Moroccan agreement does not extend to Western Sahara.
These developments come within the context of a series of European judicial and institutional rulings and positions that have maintained the distinction between Morocco and Western Sahara, affirming that the Sahrawi people hold separate rights over their territory and natural resources, and that their will cannot be bypassed in any agreement or activity affecting the territory.
This comes at a time when the Frente POLISARIO continues its legal and political struggle at the European and international levels in defence of the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence.
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