The Court also set aside the General Court’s judgment of 10 December 2015 and dismissed Polisario’s action as inadmissible. Both findings matter: the procedural outcome in the EU Council’s favour did not validate application of the agreements to the territory.
The reasoning rests on the territory’s separate and distinct status under international law and the relative effect of treaties. In a joint statement that day, the EU and Morocco acknowledged the judgment and reaffirmed their partnership. The ruling concerned those trade instruments; it was not a political agreement on final status.