An unsettling discrepancy persists between legal clarity and operational reality. While the European Union’s recently updated aviation agreement with Morocco explicitly excludes Western Sahara, European carriers continue operating flights to the territory—bypassing this exclusion entirely.
new eu-Morocco air accord approved by european parliament
On July 8, 2026, the European Parliament formally endorsed the revised protocol updating the EU-Morocco Euro-Mediterranean aviation agreement, a move prompted by Croatia’s accession to the European Union.
The revised accord passed with overwhelming support: 625 votes in favor, 16 against, and 20 abstentions. Notably, this protocol serves a purely technical purpose, adjusting the agreement to reflect Croatia’s EU membership without altering the territorial scope of the aviation framework.
Debate surrounding the vote highlighted deep divisions over how the EU should enforce the agreement’s geographic limitations. Some lawmakers argued that the protocol’s adoption was appropriate precisely because it maintains the status quo—limiting the agreement to Morocco’s internationally recognized borders and avoiding any extension to Western Sahara, in line with both EU jurisprudence and repeated declarations from the European Commission.
A vocal minority of MEPs, however, raised concerns that the Commission has failed to prevent European airlines from operating flights to Western Sahara’s occupied territory outside the framework of the agreement—a practice they view as a violation of international and EU law.
legal clarity vs. commercial operations
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has consistently ruled that EU-Morocco agreements apply only within Morocco’s internationally recognized borders unless the people of Western Sahara consent. In a landmark 2018 decision, the CJEU determined that the aviation agreement could not be interpreted to extend to Western Sahara.
The European Commission has publicly reaffirmed this stance, instructing EU airlines that the aviation accord “does not cover routes connecting EU member states to Western Sahara.” Despite this unambiguous legal guidance, several European carriers continue to operate flights to airports in Dakhla and other locations within Western Sahara.
Among the airlines involved are Ryanair, which launched direct flights from multiple EU cities to Dakhla, and Transavia (a subsidiary of KLM-Air France), both operating outside the scope of the EU-Morocco aviation framework. Additionally, Air Arabia (based in the UAE) and Binter Airlines (Spain) have previously serviced the territory. Efforts to seek clarification from KLM-Air France and Air Arabia regarding their operations in Western Sahara have gone unanswered.
The European Commission’s failure to enforce its own legal interpretations has left a regulatory gray area, allowing commercial flights to proceed while sidestepping the agreement’s territorial restrictions.
