This paper provides a critical analysis of the recent judgments of the General Court of the EU and the Court of Justice of the EU in the case of Front Polisario v Council , which concerned the application of the EU-Morocco Liberalisation Agreement to products from Western Sahara. The central argument is that both EU courts failed to adequately consider the nature of the Moroccan presence on Western Saharan territory: a belligerent occupation. In light of this occupation, the courts should have channelled the EU’s extraterritorial obligations vis-à-vis the population of Western Sahara through the tailor-made regimes of the law of occupation and the international duty of non-recognition. It is argued that the application of the Liberalisation Agreement may notably run afoul of the EU’s duty of non-recognition, but that the Agreement may still apply insofar as it benefits the local population. More fundamentally, after Front Polisario , the EU may want to reconsider all trade relations in respect of occupied territories by distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate products.

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This chapter discusses the influence of EU competition law on the process of democratic empowerment in the EU. In particular, it will examine how the current approach to the application of competition rules in the EU has had a restrictive influence on the ability for citizens to participate in setting public policy goals at various levels of society. This 'competition law problem' has its root in the restriction on 'Responsible Business Conduct' (RBC) initiatives between private firms.Increasingly private firms are facing pressure to address today's social and environmental challenges. Increased globalisation and recognition of the negative effects of the global market economy, as well as caution about the increasing wealth and power of corporations, has brought about change in society's expectations of and interactions with firms. 2 This affects individual national, multinational and transnational corporations as well as industries as a whole. In response to this, private firms have increasingly sought to cooperate in order to tackle these complex issues. For example, corporations have in recent years played a role in environmental protection, the protection of animal welfare and combatting low wages throughout the world. Through inter-firm cooperation, firms have thus demonstrated greater societal awareness and responsiveness. At the same time, these firms have arguably taken on new quasi-governmental responsibilities. Some have even gone so far as to argue that these firms have become 'political actors'. 3 But it is clearly not only firms who play a role here: civil society organisations and EU citizens are also involved in this shift towards more social and environmental awareness and for pushing firms to accept more responsibility for combatting global challenges. And of course, governments are part of this process as well: either as regulator and legislator, or as facilitator for, or even participant in, these market initiatives.1 This chapter draws on the work of an earlier publication by the authors, titled 'Non-competition interests are no competition for 'Market Europe': does EU competition law hamper the exercise of political rights?' as part of the bEUcitizen project. The authors would also like to thank Rebecca Larsen for her excellent research assistance.