Joined Cases C-779/21 P and C-799/21 P: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 4 October 2024 – European Commission (C-779/21 P) and Council of the European Union (C-799/21 P) v Front populaire pour la libération de la Saguia-el-Hamra et du Rio de oro (Front Polisario) and Others (Appeals – External action – International agreements – 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 – Agreement on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to that agreement – Concluding act – Allegations of infringements of international law resulting from the applicability of that second agreement to the territory of Western Sahara – Action for annulment – Admissibility – Capacity to be a party to legal proceedings – Locus standi – Condition that an applicant must, in certain cases, be directly and individually concerned by the measure in question – Principle of the relative effect of treaties – Principle of self-determination – Non-self-governing territories – Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations – Discretion of the Council of the European Union – Customary international law – General principles of EU law – Consent of the people of a non-self-governing territory which holds a right to self-determination as a third party to an international agreement)
Date: 2024-10-04
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Morocco, Western Sahara, access to the courts, association agreement (EU), customary law, international law - national law, judicial review, rebel government








C_202501510EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/1510


17.3.2025






Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 4 October 2024 – European Commission (C-779/21 P) and Council of the European Union (C-799/21 P) v Front populaire pour la libération de la Saguia-el-Hamra et du Rio de oro (Front Polisario) and Others


(Joined Cases C-779/21 P and C-799/21 P)
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(Appeals - External action - International agreements - 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 - Agreement on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to that agreement - Concluding act - Allegations of infringements of international law resulting from the applicability of that second agreement to the territory of Western Sahara - Action for annulment - Admissibility - Capacity to be a party to legal proceedings - Locus standi - Condition that an applicant must, in certain cases, be directly and individually concerned by the measure in question - Principle of the relative effect of treaties - Principle of self-determination - Non-self-governing territories - Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations - Discretion of the Council of the European Union - Customary international law - General principles of EU law - Consent of the people of a non-self-governing territory which holds a right to self-determination as a third party to an international agreement)
(C/2025/1510)
Language of the case: French

Parties

C-779/21 P

Appellant: European Commission (represented initially by A. Bouquet, F. Castillo de la Torre, F. Clotuche-Duvieusart and B. Eggers, acting as Agents, and subsequently by A. Bouquet, D. Calleja Crespo, F. Clotuche-Duvieusart and B. Eggers, acting as Agents)

Other parties to the proceedings: Front populaire pour la libération de la Saguia-el-Hamra et du Rio de oro (Front Polisario) (represented by: G. Devers, avocat), Council of the European Union, French Republic (represented initially by J.-L. Carré, A.-L. Desjonquères and T. Stéhelin, acting as Agents, and subsequently by G. Bain, B. Herbaut, T. Stéhelin and B. Travard, acting as Agents), and Confédération marocaine de l’agriculture et du développement rural (Comader) (represented by: N. Angelet, G. Forwood and A. Hublet, avocats, and by N. Forwood, Barrister-at-Law)

Intervener in support of the European Commission: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: L. Aguilera Ruiz and A. Gavela Llopis, acting as Agents)
C-799/21 P

Appellant: Council of the European Union (represented initially by F. Naert and V. Piessevaux, acting as Agents, and subsequently by F. Naert, A. Nowak-Salles and V. Piessevaux, acting as Agents)

Other parties to the proceedings: Front populaire pour la libération de la Saguia-el-Hamra et du Rio de oro (Front Polisario) (represented by: G. Devers, avocat), French Republic (represented initially by J.-L. Carré, A.-L. Desjonquères, and T. Stéhelin, acting as Agents, and subsequently by G. Bain, B. Herbaut, T. Stéhelin and B. Travard, acting as Agents), European Commission (represented initially by A. Bouquet, F. Castillo de la Torre, F. Clotuche-Duvieusart and B. Eggers, acting as Agents, and subsequently by A. Bouquet, D. Calleja Crespo, F. Clotuche-Duvieusart and B. Eggers, acting as Agents), and Confédération marocaine de l’agriculture et du développement rural (Comader) (represented by: N. Angelet, G. Forwood and A. Hublet, avocats, and by N. Forwood, Barrister-at-Law)

Interveners in support of the Council of the European Union: Kingdom of Belgium (represented initially by J.-C. Halleux, C. Pochet and M. Van Regemorter, acting as Agents, and subsequently by C. Pochet and M. Van Regemorter, acting as Agents), Kingdom of Spain (represented by: L. Aguilera Ruiz and A. Gavela Llopis, acting as Agents), Hungary (represented by: M.Z. Fehér and K. Szíjjártó, acting as Agents), Portuguese Republic (represented by: P. Barros da Costa and A. Pimenta, acting as Agents), and Slovak Republic (represented initially by B. Ricziová, acting as Agent, and subsequently by S. Ondrášiková, acting as Agent)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Dismisses the appeals;










2.


Orders that the effects of Council Decision (EU) 2019/217 of 28 January 2019 on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 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, are to be maintained for a period of 12 months from the date of delivery of the present judgment;










3.


Orders the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the Front populaire pour la libération de la Saguia-el-Hamra et du Rio de oro (Front Polisario) in connection with the present appeals;










4.


Orders the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Spain, Hungary, the Portuguese Republic, the Slovak Republic, the French Republic and the Confédération marocaine de l’agriculture et du développement rural (Comader) to bear their own costs.






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            OJ C 119, 14.3.2022.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/1510/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)