UK appeals court rejects pro-Polisario lawsuit against agreement with Morocco
UK appeals court rejects pro-Polisario lawsuit against agreement with Morocco
Morocco World News | 25th May 2023
By Oussama Aamari
The London Court of Appeals rejected on Thursday the appeal request of pro-Polisario NGO WSC against the Morocco-UK Association Agreement.
London’s Administrative Court first rejected the association’s lawsuit back in December, and the Appeals Court’s sentence has further confirmed the validity of the agreement.
The lawsuit aimed to convince the British court to re-examine the trade agreement between the UK and Morocco to challenge Morocco’s territorial integrity.
The Association Agreement was signed back in 2019, and aims to preserve and strengthen the trade relations between the two countries after Brexit, especially in key areas like renewable energy and tourism.
“We will continue to work closely with Morocco to maximize the £2.7 billion in trade between our countries,” a spokesperson for the UK Department for International Trade said after the first sentence against WSC in December.
The spokesperson welcomed the ruling and emphasized that the UK and Morocco are determined to continue exchanges through the agreement.
Trade between Morocco and the UK has been developing recently, with education, renewables, and tourism being key areas.
Speaking to Morocco World News (MWN) in 2022, UK Ambassador to Morocco Simon Martin said that cooperation between the two countries was on an upwards trajectory.
“We’re also seeing a great deal of interest now that the UK is an independent trading nation among Moroccan companies to do business with the UK,” Martin detailed. “There is investment going in both directions, trade is on the increase.”
One of the most notable projects between the two countries is the Xlinks submarine power cable project, which aims to export green energy from the North African country to the United Kingdom.
The past year has also seen the establishment of more steps to grow education cooperation between the two countries, including scholarships and the spread of English education in Morocco.
In April, Coventry University inaugurated its first campus in Morocco, making it also the first British university campus in the country, with plans in the future to open two more campuses.
