Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Several EU countries led by Spain and Ireland called on Tuesday for suspending or partially suspending the pact governing the European Union’s ties with Israel, but they failed to secure enough support from other member states.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said after talks among foreign ministers that there was not sufficient support to suspend the agreement, though discussions on the EU relationship with Israel would continue.
Calls to suspend the EU-Israel agreement
Arriving at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg, a number of ministers called for suspending or partially suspending the association agreement, which came into force in 2000.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said “Europe’s credibility is at stake” and called for a discussion on suspending the agreement, citing concerns about settlements in the West Bank, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and a new death penalty law.
Insufficient support among member states
Kallas said she did not see positions shifting in favor of suspension during the meeting. “I didn’t see the shifting of positions in the room regarding the suspension,” she told a press conference.
She said she would bring up ideas raised by ministers with the EU’s trade commissioner. She also noted that member countries held diverging positions on whether, and how, to change the bloc’s policies on Israel.
Germany and Italy indicated they were maintaining their existing positions.
Trade provisions and voting requirements
The European Commission proposed in September suspending some trade-related provisions of the association agreement, an arrangement affecting about 5.8 billion euros of Israeli exports. Israel said at the time that the proposals were “morally and politically distorted”.
Suspending the trade arrangement would require a qualified majority vote among EU governments, meaning the support of 15 out of 27 EU members representing 65 per cent of the EU population. A full suspension of the association agreement would require unanimity among all member states.
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