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| - Western Sahara's pro-independence movement challenged an EU-Morocco trade accord before the European Court of Justice on Tuesday, opening a new legal front in a long-standing dispute. Lawyers representing the Polisario movement argue Brussels was wrong to extend preferential terms to agricultural exports from Western Sahara under the deal with Morocco. Polisario fought for the independence of the former Spanish colony between 1975 and 1991, and tensions have been exacerbated by the EU trade deal and by former US president Donald Trump's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty. The court will hold two days of hearings this week, but a ruling on the legality of the trade accord may not be rendered for two to three months. A vast desert expanse of 266,000 square kilometres (100,000 square miles), equivalent to half the size of France, Western Sahara is the last territory of Africa whose post-colonial status is yet to be determined. Morocco claims the entire territory and controls 80 percent of it, with a huge sand berm and UN blue helmet peacekeepers separating the Polisario-held enclave in the east. In January, Trump broke with the international community's quest for a mutually agreed solution by recognising Rabat's claim, in exchange for Morocco's recognition of US ally Israel. But Polisario was also disappointed in the EU position. In 2016, the pro-independence movement had won a European legal battle with a ruling that the 2012 trade pact between Morocco and the EU must not apply to goods from the still disputed territory. But, in 2019 the European Parliament approved a text extending coverage of the agreement. In 2019, Morocco exported 434 million euros ($524 million) worth of fish, tomatoes and melons from Western Sahara to Europe, according to European Commission figures. Phosphates are also exported. Brussels has defended the trade, arguing that it "contributed to the normalisation and relaunch of EU-Morocco relations and, as such, to maintaining their dialogue and constructive cooperation on the protection of human rights". But for Polisario's lawyer, Gilles Devers, this represents a "looting" of Western Sahara "to finance the policy of annexation". "Mind your own business. Leave us alone," he told the court. The European Council, which represents the 27 EU member states, the European Commission and the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development challenged the admissibility of the appeal lodged by Polisario. "The applicant is not a legal person with legal capacity," argued European Council lawyer Vincent Piessevaux. "It has never been recognised as an interlocutor of the union." The Moroccan farm body's counsel, Nathalie Colin, argued that Polisario is not the sole representative of the people of the Western Sahara and that the European court has no standing to interfere in a sovereignty battle that is before the United Nations. pso/dc/rmb/mjs
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