Diplomatic Inside
The Court of Appeal of London irrevocably rejected, Thursday 25th May 2023, the appeal of the pro-separatist NGO, Western Sahara Campaign(WSC), against a previous decision of the Administrative Court, rejecting its request that tried to challenge the association agreement between Morocco and the United Kingdom.
This third setback since last December for the enemies of Morocco’s territorial integrity confirms the validity of the association agreement linking the two countries and which benefits the populations and development of all regions of the Kingdom, from north to south.
The latter judgment only confirms the truth and reinforces Morocco’s right. This judgment confirms the legitimacy of the Kingdom’s action in its southern provinces and the conformity of its exploitation of natural resources with international legality.
Thus, Morocco is satisfied that the Tribunal has recognized that the “polisario” has absolutely no opinion to give with regard to the economic development of the southern provinces. Trade relations between Morocco and the United Kingdom concern only these two parties.
By this judgment, the “polisario” is reduced to its real dimension. It cannot claim or represent the population of the Sahara.
According to several international well-known analysts, this court decision also highlights the repetitive failures of the real stakeholder instigating the conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, which, despite its malicious intentions, fails in its attempts to persuade the British justice to review the post-Brexit trade agreement concluded and supported by the two Kingdoms.
Indeed, trade between the two countries has grown steadily since the conclusion of the agreement, with bilateral flows peaking at £2.9 billion in Q3 2022, up £1 billion from the same period last year.
The Association Agreement between Morocco and the United Kingdom, signed in London on 26 October 2019, entered into force on 1 January 2021.
It restores, in the context of bilateral relations, all the effects that the two countries agreed to each other, within the framework of the Morocco-EU Association Agreement.
It ensures, thus, the continuity of trade between Morocco and the United Kingdom after December 31, 2020.
Allowing the two Kingdoms to settle permanently in a structured partnership, endowed with operational and institutionalized cooperation instruments, and driven by a common ambition, the Agreement constitutes a guarantee for Moroccan and British companies that undertake economic and commercial relations in all sectors of cooperation.