Suspension of Israel-EU trade deal a ‘political’ matter

Any decision by the European Union to suspend its trade agreement with Israel is a matter of political judgment that must be taken by the 27 member states, the European Commission has said.

It comes after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez asked European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to review whether Tel Aviv is in breach of the EU–Israel Association Agreement, which is conditional on respect for human rights, given the vast civilian death toll in Gaza.

The commission confirmed that their letter was received and that is being examined. Under EU law, any decision to suspend the trade agreement would need to be agreed upon by the 27 EU member states, following a proposal by either the commission or EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

As this issue is a matter of foreign policy, it should be up to the high representative Mr Borrell to make a recommendation and any decision to suspend the agreement would require the unanimous agreement of all 27 member states, according to the commission.

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“Whether there are grounds for suspension in this case is a matter of political appreciation that should be done by the council on the initiative of the high representative as this is a foreign policy,” said a spokeswoman.

“Unanimity in the council would be required in principle for the suspension of the entire agreement.”

The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner and the prospect of suspending the favourable terms under which that trade takes place is a powerful weapon in the bloc’s arsenal that it may be difficult to get political consensus to use.

Meanwhile, Ireland is seeking like-minded EU countries to take potential bilateral actions together such as the recognition of Palestine or the imposition of sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers, The Irish Times understands.

The commission appeared to suggest that there were benefits to continuing the agreement as it was the basis for engagement with Tel Aviv.

“The existing association agreement is the legal basis of our ongoing dialogue with the Israeli authorities, and it provides an important mechanism to discuss problematic issues and advance our point of view,” said the spokeswoman.

“In this framework, the EU will continue to reaffirm its commitment of the applicability of the international humanitarian rights and humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The only permanent resolution to the divisive conflict is to “spare no efforts to achieve the two-state solution”, she added.

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