Von der Leyen: “I will soon present a proposal” on restrictions on products from Israeli settlements

Brussels – Is the European Union turning a blind eye to Israel? According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the main responsibility lies with the Council, among the Member States. “Ten months ago, we proposed suspending the trade preferences provided for in the EU-Israel Association Agreement. This would have a significant economic impact, but this proposal remains on the table for the Member States, who will have to vote by a qualified majority; so the ball is in the Member States’ court,” stated von der Leyen today (3 July) in the Irish city of Cork, at a press conference with the Prime Minister of the Republic, Micheál Martin. The President is on the island with her team of Commissioners for the start of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, and her response came in answer to a question about the lack of progress by the EU on this front, while also recalling the alarming independent United Nations report on the Israel’s deliberate killing of Palestinian children. 

The tenant of the Belaymont Building claimed that the EU is “the world’s largest provider of aid to the Palestinian people,” as “no one does more than we do.” Among the measures promoted, she highlighted the allocation of “over €2.7 billion in humanitarian aid and budgetary support” for Palestine, as well as the organisation of “85 humanitarian aid flights” and the delivery of “over 5,600 tonnes of essential supplies.” She also highlighted, in addition to the issue of humanitarian aid access, that “the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is utterly unacceptable,” describing “the violence used to carry out this expansion” as “abominable.” Above all because “it undermines the future of the two-state solution, which she described as “the only viable solution or path to lasting peace.” She reiterated that the Commission is working on “a document setting out options” on restrictions on settlement products and that “last month we agreed on sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers and many Member States have also proposed sanctioning Minister Ben-Gvir”. However, “no consensus has been reached so far.” In short, “in the Council, at present, no progress has been made towards a solution or an agreement on how to proceed,” she concluded.