The European Commission’s failure to bring forward proposals to “discontinue” trade between the EU and illegal Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories has been criticised by Spain, Ireland and seven other member states.
The nine foreign ministers, in a joint letter seen by The Irish Times, take aim at the slow progress in cutting off indirect economic support for Israeli settlements in the West Bank and other Palestinian territory.
They say firmer action is needed from the EU in response to findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year, that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem was unlawful.
In their June 16th letter, the ministers say the ICJ opinion put greater obligations on governments to make sure they were not entrenching the illegal settlements through trade links or other ties.
They criticised the commission, the EU’s executive arm, which sets trade policy, for not doing enough in response to the court’s decision.
“We have not seen a proposal to initiate discussions on how to effectively discontinue trade of goods and services with the illegal settlements,” the letter states.
The nine ministers call for the commission to carry out an “in-depth analysis” into the implications the ICJ opinion had for other governments’ relations with Israel.
The letter was signed by the foreign ministers of Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. It was sent to commission president Ursula von der Leyen, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas and EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.
“We are committed to respect, and where relevant, implementing the conclusions put forward by the [ICJ] in its advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the letter says.
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Several governments are to push for Israel to be penalised for its conduct during its 20-month invasion of the Gaza Strip, when the 27 EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday.
A review into whether Israel’s war in Gaza has breached human rights commitments it made in a free-trade agreement with the EU will be presented to ministers at the meeting.
Some ministers are expected to call for action to be taken against Israel, to pressure the Israeli government to stop choking off the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where aid agencies continue to warn the civilian population still lacks food, fuel and medicine.
More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began after the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7th, 2023.
While a growing number of EU states have been advocating for the EU to take a stronger stance against Israel, others, such as Hungary, Germany and Czechia, have pushed back in support of Israel.
