The dotted line has disappeared from the map of Morocco now published on the website of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fragile boundary, which suggested that Western Sahara was, in the eyes of Paris, an entity distinct from the rest of the territory, was erased on Tuesday, October 29 in the evening, a few hours after Emmanuel Macron reiterated, before Parliament, in Rabat, on the second day of her state visit to the kingdom, the « reconnaissance » by France “Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara”.
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In addition to this cartographic modification loaded with political meaning, Jean-Noël Barrot, the boss of the Quai d'Orsay, announced on Tuesday, during a press conference, alongside his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, that Paris would “increase [son] consular and cultural action » in Western Sahara, with a view to “open a French Alliance”. Things are therefore accelerating in France's repositioning on the Sahrawi issue, which, Mr. Macron had clarified to the Moroccan deputies, “is not hostile to anyone”allusion to Algeria, support for the separatists of the Polisario Front.
A territory dedicated to “self-determination”
And now ? If Paris accelerates its pace, if its turnaround will create a new diplomatic dynamic – particularly within the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Security Council – favorable to the Moroccan cause, the dispute around Western Sahara will not go away. not settle as if by magic. Many mortgages remain, which will prolong the puzzle. In the eyes of international law, the former Spanish colony, which Madrid left in 1976, in the confusion of Franco's twilight, remains a “non-self-governing territory” dedicated to“self-determination”. The cascade of diplomatic recognitions of its “Moroccanness”, of which that of France is the most recent – after the United States in 2020 – does not change anything at this stage in the fundamental facts of the dispute.
The first of the looming pitfalls lies in the legal hazard of investing in Western Sahara. French companies and operators “will support development” of the territory, Mr. Macron confirmed on Tuesday in Rabat. These “investments” et “sustainable and supportive initiatives” will be carried out to “benefit of local populations”he clarified. However, the European jurisprudence currently being established on the subject will be a source of difficulties. On October 4, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) effectively delivered a judgment confirming the annulment – already decided in September 2021 by the EU court (first instance) – of two Euro-trade agreements. Moroccans on fishing and agriculture, on the grounds that they ignore the “consent of the people of Western Sahara”.
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