Order of the General Court (Fifth Chamber, Extended Composition) of 19 July 2018 — Front Polisario v Council

(Case T‑180/14)

(Actions for annulment — Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco — Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities provided for by the agreement — Act concluding the agreement — Applicability of the agreement and protocol to the territory of Western Sahara and the waters adjacent thereto — Lack of locus standi — Inadmissibility)

1.      International agreements — European Union Agreements — Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement EC-Morocco — Communities-Morocco Partnership Agreement — Territorial scope — Non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara falling outside the sovereignty of the parties — Not included

(Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement EC-Morocco, Art. 94; Communities-Morocco Partnership Agreement, Art. 11)

(see para. 44)

2.      International agreements — European Union Agreements — International agriculture and fisheries agreements — Communities-Morocco Partnership Agreement — Territorial scope — Waters adjacent to the territory of Western Sahara — Not included

(Communities-Morocco Partnership Agreement, Arts 2(a) and 11)

(see paras 45-50)

3.      International agreements — European Union Agreements — International agriculture and fisheries agreements — Communities-Morocco Partnership Agreement — 2013 Protocol — Territorial scope — Moroccan fishing zone — Meaning — Waters adjacent to the territory of Western Sahara — Not included

(Communities-Morocco Partnership Agreement, Arts 2(a) and 16, and 2013 Protocol, Art. 1)

(see paras 52, 53, 57, 60)

4.      International agreements — European Union Agreements — Interpretation — Taking account of the subsequent practice on the implementation of the agreement — Scope — Purported intention of the European Union to implement the agreement in a manner incompatible with the principles of self-determination and of the relative effect of treaties — Incompatibility with the principle that Treaty obligations must be performed in good faith

(see paras 63-65)

5.      Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Decision of the Council concerning the conclusion of a protocol with a third country not producing legal effects in a territory controlled by that third State, the latter’s sovereignty over that territory not being internationally recognised — Action of a movement recognised as representing the people of that territory and participating in negotiations conducted by the United Nations with a view to establishing the status of that territory — Inadmissibility

(Art. 263, fourth para. TFEU; Communities-Morocco Partnership Agreement and 2013 Protocol)

(see paras 69-71)

Re:

Action brought under Article 263 TFEU seeking the annulment of, first, Council Decision 2013/785/EU of 16 December 2013 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Protocol between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution provided for in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco (OJ 2013 L 349, p. 1) and, second, Commission Decision (EU) 2018/393 of 12 March 2018 approving, on behalf of the European Union, amendments to the Protocol between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution provided for in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco (OJ 2018 L 69, p. 60).

Operative part

1. The action is dismissed.

2. The Front populaire pour la libération de la Saguia-el-Hanra et du Rio de Oro (Front Polisario) shall pay, in addition to its own costs, those incurred by the Council of the European Union.

3. The European Commission shall bear its own costs.