فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
Barcelona – November 26, 2025
In a dramatic vote held today, Wednesday, within the European Parliament, MEPs rejected a proposed amendment aimed at requiring products from the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Morocco to bear the label “Western Sahara” instead of the official administrative regions: Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab.
The amendment, submitted by MEPs affiliated with groups supporting the Polisario Front – particularly from the radical left and the Greens, along with a small number of Spanish, French, and German MEPs – received only 359 votes in favor, one vote short of the required threshold for passage (360 votes). In contrast, 188 MEPs voted against the amendment, while 76 abstained. Consequently, the original text proposed by the European Commission remains in effect, which adopts the official Moroccan administrative designations for products exported from those areas to the unified European market.
This rejection is considered a victory for the Moroccan position, which affirms full sovereignty over its southern provinces, and is consistent with previous rulings by the European Court of Justice that recognized the validity of trade agreements between the European Union and Morocco, provided that the administrative and developmental reality in the two regions is taken into account. The vote comes after weeks of intensive media campaigns and lobbying led by non-governmental organizations and political figures supporting the Polisario, but party discipline within major political blocs – such as the Populars and Socialists – and adherence to current legal texts decided the matter in favor of rejecting the amendment.
With this narrow margin (just one vote), the European Union maintains the current legal framework for origin labels in its trade agreements with Morocco, ensuring the continuity of agricultural and industrial exports from the southern provinces without additional complications, and strengthening confidence in the bilateral economic partnership, which exceeded 40 billion euros in 2024. The vote indicates a division among European MEPs on the Sahara issue, where growing French and Spanish support for the Moroccan autonomy plan contributed to determining the outcome.
