Västsaharafrågan och EU:s fiske

I dagarna kommer EU att besluta huruvida man ska försöka förlänga fiskeavtalet (FPA) med Marocko som innefattar också fiske i västsahariska vatten. Jag har tillsammans med sex kollegor (Ove Bring, Per Cramér, Ulf Linderfalk, Mark Klamberg, Said Mahmoudi, Inger Österdahl),  skrivit en folkrättslig analys som anger att avtalet i sin nuvarande form är olagligt. Slutsatsen är:

• A renewed FPA may make the EU and its member states liable for a violation of international law, namely as a recognition of and assistance to serious breaches of international law by Morocco.
• An FPA with Morocco that covers waters outside WS must conform with the following conditions:
• The agreement should make clear that it does not cover WS as a part of the territory of Morocco
• The agreement must be in accordance with the wishes and interests of the people of WS
• A negotiating mandate for the Commission – including a mandate for a short extension of the protocol to the FPA – should include the conditions related above and must – as an absolute minimum -- include a clause providing that the agreement shall be in conformity with international law.
• Before any new negotiations are undertaken, the Government of Morocco should provide an answer in public to the two question how the FPA has benefitted the people of WS and if it is according to the wishes of that people.

Som förklaras i analysen fordras det att avtalet sker i det västsahariska folkets intresse OCH i enlighet med dess vilja. I P1-morgon i morse hade Eskil Erlandsson – som är skeptisk till avtalet – dock glömt det andra villkoret.