The European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy, the Right to Self-determination and Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources

Abstract

Abstract In Front Polisario and Western Sahara Campaign UK, the European Court of Justice applied the principles of self-determination and permanent sovereignty over natural resources, deciding that the various international agreements concluded with Morocco, including the Fisheries Partnership Agreement and its 2013 Protocol, should be interpreted as excluding Western Sahara’s territory and adjacent waters. These cases and Western Sahara’s situation more generally raise several questions regarding the external aspect of the European Union’s (EU) Common Fisheries Policy and the impact of international law on the EU’s fisheries agreements. In particular, the principle of self-determination may require the scope of application of the EU’s fisheries agreements to be (more) limited to safeguard the interests of those peoples protected by the principles of self-determination and permanent sovereignty over natural resources. This article outlines the continued influence of the principle of self-determination, including its influence on the actions of the EU.