(1)

The Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part (1) (the ‘Association Agreement’) entered into force on 1 March 2000.

(2)

The Association Agreement includes Protocol 4 concerning the definition of originating products and methods of administrative cooperation (‘Protocol 4’), which lays down the rules of origin.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 39 of Protocol 4, the Association Council established by Article 78 of the Association Agreement (the ‘Association Council’) may decide to amend the provisions of Protocol 4. Pursuant to Article 80, second paragraph, of the Association Agreement, the decisions taken by the Association Council are to be binding on the Parties, which shall take the measures necessary to implement those decisions.

(4)

The Association Council, during its next meeting or by exchange of letters, is to adopt a decision on a proposed amendment of Protocol 4.

(5)

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken, on behalf of the Union, within the Association Council as the decision of the Association Council will have legal effects.

(6)

As a result of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘Court’) in Case C-104/16 P (2) of 21 December 2016, in order to establish a legal basis to grant the tariff preferences laid down in the Association Agreement to goods originating in Western Sahara, the Union and the Kingdom of Morocco concluded an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Association Agreement (3) (the ‘Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters’), which was signed on 25 October 2018.

(7)

As a result of the judgment of the Court in Joined Cases C-779/21 P and C-799/21 P (4) of 4 October 2024, to ensure that the flows of trade which have developed over the years are not disrupted, and that the tariff preferences under the Association Agreement apply to goods originating in Western Sahara, the European Union and Morocco negotiated a new Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters that replaces the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters (the ‘new Agreement’). The new Agreement was signed on 3 October 2025 and has applied on a provisional basis since 4 October 2025.

(8)

The Joint Declaration contained in the new Agreement, inserted after Protocol 4, specifies that products originating in Western Sahara which are subject to controls by the customs authorities of the Kingdom of Morocco benefit from the same trade preferences as those granted by the Union to the products covered by the Association Agreement, and that Protocol 4 applies mutatis mutandis for the purposes of defining the originating status of those products, including with regard to proof of origin.

(9)

Within the framework of the new Agreement, Protocol 4 should be amended in order to ensure both its applicability to products originating in Western Sahara and the continuation of trade, in particular for the fruit and vegetables sector and the fisheries sector.

(10)

The position of the Union within the Association Council should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,