Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 10 December 2015

Front populaire pour la libération de la saguia-el-hamra et du rio de oro (Front Polisario) v Council of the European Union

External relations — Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and Morocco — Reciprocal liberalisation of agricultural products, processed agricultural products, fish and fishery products — Application of the agreement to Western Sahara — Polisario Front — Action for annulment — Capacity to bring legal proceedings — Direct and individual concern — Admissibility — Conformity with international law — Obligation to state reasons — Rights of defence

Case T-512/12



Top of the page Documents in the Case
Document Date Name of the parties Subject-matter Curia EUR-Lex
Judgment (OJ)
05/02/2016 Front Polisario v Council
Agriculture and Fisheries
- Association Agreement
  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • - Association Agreement
  • External relations
View pdf documents
Judgment
ECLI:EU:T:2015:953		 10/12/2015 Front Polisario v Council
Agriculture and Fisheries
- Association Agreement
  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • - Association Agreement
  • External relations
EUR-Lex text EUR-Lex bilingual text
Judgment (Summary)
ECLI:EU:T:2015:953		 10/12/2015 Front Polisario v Council
Agriculture and Fisheries
- Association Agreement
  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • - Association Agreement
  • External relations
Application (OJ)
08/02/2013 Front Polisario v Council
Agriculture and Fisheries
- Association Agreement
  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • - Association Agreement
  • External relations
View pdf documents
Top of the page Legal analysis of the decision or of the case

Reports of Cases

published in the electronic Reports of Cases (Court Reports - general)

Subject-matter

Annulment of Council Decision 2012/497/EU of 8 March 2012 on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco concerning reciprocal liberalisation measures on agricultural products, processed agricultural products, fish and fishery products, the replacement of Protocols 1, 2 and 3 and their Annexes and amendments to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part (OJ 2012 L 241, p. 2) and of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 812/2012 of 12 September 2012 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 as regards tariff quotas of the Union for certain agricultural and processed agricultural products.

Systematic classification scheme

1.
-
3 Legal proceedings
  3.02 Actions for annulment
    3.02.03 Applications by natural or legal persons
      3.02.03.01 Interest in bringing proceedings
-
3 Legal proceedings
  3.02 Actions for annulment
    3.02.03 Applications by natural or legal persons
      3.02.03.04 Regulatory acts
-
6 External policy
  6.07 International agreements
    6.07.04 Effects, scope and limits
-
3 Legal proceedings
  3.02 Actions for annulment
    3.02.03 Applications by natural or legal persons
      3.02.03.03 Acts which are of direct concern to them
-
2 Institutional framework of the European Union
  2.05 Legal acts of the European Union
    2.05.06 Statement of reasons
-
1 The legal order of the European Union
  1.01 Sources of EU law
    1.01.02 General principles of law
      1.01.02.05 Rights of the defence and procedural guarantees
-
1 The legal order of the European Union
  1.04 Fundamental rights
    1.04.03 The fundamental rights
      1.04.03.41 Right to good administration
-
6 External policy
  6.07 International agreements
    6.07.02 Negotiation and conclusion
-
6 External policy
  6.07 International agreements
    6.07.11 International agreements on agriculture and fisheries
-
3 Legal proceedings
  3.02 Actions for annulment
    3.02.04 Pleas in law
      3.02.04.01 Infringement of the Treaties
-
6 External policy
  6.07 International agreements
    6.07.02 Negotiation and conclusion
-
1 The legal order of the European Union
  1.01 Sources of EU law
    1.01.02 General principles of law
      1.01.02.03 Principle of the protection of legitimate expectations
-
6 External policy
  6.07 International agreements
    6.07.04 Effects, scope and limits
-
3 Legal proceedings
  3.08 Procedural rules
    3.08.09 Costs


Citations of case-law or legislation

References in grounds of judgment

Operative part

Opinion

Information not available


Dates

Date of the lodging of the application initiating proceedings

  • 19/11/2012

Date of the Opinion

Information not available

Date of the hearing

Information not available

Date of delivery

10/12/2015


References

Publication in the Official Journal

Judgment: OJ C 68 from 22.02.2016, p.26

Application: OJ C 55 from 23.02.2013, p.14

Name of the parties

Front Polisario v Council

Notes on Academic Writings

  1. Ryngaert, C.M.J.: Het EU-handelsakkoord met Marokko: ook van toepassimg in de Westelijke Sahara?, Ars aequi 2016 p.208-211 (NL)
  2. Chiti, Edoardo: Le relazioni esterne dell'Unione e il diritto amministrativo europeo, Giornale di diritto amministrativo 2016 p.231-238 (IT)
  3. Gosalbo Bono, R.: El Frente polisario, las normas del derecho internacional y el derecho de la Unión Europea. Apuntes en torno de la sentencia del Tribunal General, de 10 de Diciembre de 2015, T-512/12, Frente Polisario / Consejo, Revista de Derecho Comunitario Europeo 2016 nº53 p.21-77 (ES)
  4. Poissonnier, Ghislain: Le Tribunal de l'Union européenne rappelle que l'exploitation des ressources naturelles du Sahara occidental doit profiter à la population de ce territoire, Énergie 201653-55 (FR)
  5. Kowalik-Bańczyk, Krystyna: Terytorialny zakres unieważnienia decyzji zatwierdzającej umowę międzynarodową zawartą przez Unię Europejską - glosa do wyroku Sądu (UE) z 10.12.2015 r. w sprawie T-512/12 Front Polisario przeciwko Radzie Unii Europejskiej, Europejski Przegląd Sądowy 2016 Vol. 6 p.29-37 (PL)
  6. Rigaux, Anne ; Simon, Denys: Le Tribunal et le droit international des traités : un arrêt déconcertant ..., Europe 2016 Février Comm. nº 2 p.5-11 (FR)
  7. Caligiuri, Andrea: La situazione del Sahara occidentale e la sua incidenza sull'applicazione degli accordi internazionali conclusi dall'UE con il Marocco, Diritti umani e diritto internazionale 2016 p.490-498 (IT)
  8. Peiffert, Olivier: Le recours d'un mouvement de libération nationale à l'encontre d'un acte d'approbation d'un accord international de l'Union : aspect contentieux, Revue trimestrielle de droit européen 2016 avril-juin p.319-336 (FR)
  9. Annoni, Alessandra: C'è un giudice per il Sahara occidentale ?, Rivista di diritto internazionale 2016 p.866-875 (IT)
  10. Kuplewatzky, Alexander: An Appeal for Targeted Regulatory Protection of Human Rights in the European Union’s External Trade Relations in Light of Front Polisario, Global Trade and Customs Journal 2016 p.568-579 (EN)
  11. Dubuisson, François ; Poissonnier, Ghislain: La question du Sahara occidental devant le Tribunal de l'Union européenne : une application approximative du droit international relatif aux territoires non autonomes, Journal du droit international 2016 N°2 p.503-522 (FR)
  12. Fleury Graff, Thibaut: Accords de libre-échange et territoires occupés - A propos de l'arrêt TPIUE, 10 décembre 2015, Front Polisario c. conseil, Revue générale de droit international public 2016 p.263-291 (FR)
  13. Soroeta Liceras, Juan: La sentencia de 10 de diciembre de 2015 del Tribunal General de la UE (T-512/12), primer reconocimiento en vía judicial europea del estatuto del Sahara Occidental y de la subjetividad internacional del Frente Polisario, Revista General de Derecho Europeo 2016, n° 38, p. 1-37 (ES)
  14. Hummer, Waldemar: Behandlung völkerrechtlicher (Vor)Fragen durch unions-rechtliche Gerichte (EuGH und EuG), Die Europäische Union - das unbekannte Wesen. (Ed. Österreich GmbH - Wien) 2017 p.492-507 (DE)
  15. Gâlea, Ion: The Law of Treaties in the Recent Case-Law of the European Court of Justice : the Frente Polisario Case, Interpretation and Territorial Application of Treaties, Analele Universitatii din Bucuresti 2017 p.139-155 (EN)
  16. Mohay, Ágoston: A nemzetközi szokásjog helyzete az uniós jogban, különös tekintettel a Front Polisario-ügyekre, Magyar jog : a magyar jogász egylet folyóirata 2017 nº 11 p.681-689 (HU)
  17. Simon, Denys: Applicabilité des accords entre l'Union européenne et le Royaume du Maroc au territoire du Sahara occidental: Acte II, Europe 2018 avril nº 4 p.6-10 (FR)
  18. Frid de Vries, Rachel: EU Judicial review of trade agreements involving disputed territories : lessons from the Front Polisario judgments, The Columbia Journal of European Law 2018 Vol.24, N° 2 p.497-524 (EN)
  19. Villani, Ugo: La Cour de justice de l'Union européenne et le droit à l'autodétermination du peuple sahraoui, Liber Amicorum Antonio Tizzano. De la Cour CECA à la Cour de l'Union: le long parcours de la justice européenne (G. Giappichelli Editore) 2018 p.1007-1019 (FR)



Procedural Analysis Information

Source of the question referred for a preliminary ruling

Information not available

Subject-matter

  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • - Association Agreement
  • External relations

Provisions of national law referred to

Information not available

Provisions of international law referred to

Information not available

Procedure and result

  • Actions for annulment : dismissal on substantive grounds
  • Actions for annulment : application granted

Formation of the Court

huitième chambre (Tribunal)

Judge-Rapporteur

Gratsias

Advocate General

Information not available

Language(s) of the Case

  • French

Language(s) of the Opinion

    Information not available