Wind turbine construction in Western Sahara by the British company Windhoist

11.1.2018

Question for written answer E-000152-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Paloma López Bermejo (GUE/NGL)

The UK-based Windhoist company has announced that it will be installing 56 Siemens 3.6-130 x100mhh wind turbines at the Aftissat Wind Farm, in agreement with the Société Energie Eolienne du Maroc, a Moroccan wind power provider; the site lies in the occupied territory of Western Sahara, more precisely 45 km south of Bojador. The plant is expected to be fully operational by December 2018.

The occupied Saharan Arab Democratic Republic is, according to the EU Court of Justice as well as the UN, ‘distinct and separate’ from the Kingdom of Morocco, and any trade agreements with Morocco applicable to it are ‘illegal’.

1. Is the Commission aware of this situation and hence the illegality of the British company’s actions?

2. What will it do to make that company comply with international law and the rulings of the Court of Justice?