The EU Commission is due to respond by May to the request to suspend the agreement with Israel

Brussels – Over a million signatures calling on the European Union to suspend the Association Agreement with Israel in its entirety. The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Demand the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in view of Israel’s violations of human rights” was officially submitted today (12 November) to the European Commission, having gathered 1,117,104 validated statements of support across the EU and having exceeded the minimum threshold required in 12 Member States. This is the fifteenth European Citizens’ Initiative to meet the requirements to be examined by the European Commission.

The organisers call on the Union’s government to submit a proposal to the Council for the complete suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, in light of the human rights violations attributed to Israel. The initiative was registered in November 2025 and had therefore begun the process set out in European legislation for the collection of signatures. The petition had already closed on 15 July, when the conclusion of the campaign “Justice for Palestine – Stop EU trade with criminals”, promoted by the European Left Alliance for the Peoples and the Planet, was celebrated in Brussels.

The European Commission will now have until 12 May 2027 to publish an official response, in which it must set out any measures it intends to take – if any – and the reasons for its decision. In the coming weeks, it will meet with the organisers to discuss the requests in detail. Subsequently, the European Parliament will organise a public hearing.

The ECI is a mechanism introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon which enables European citizens to call on the Commission to put forward legislative proposals or other initiatives within its areas of competence. For an initiative to be considered, it must gather at least one million certified statements of support, meeting the national thresholds set in at least seven Member States. However, meeting these requirements does not oblige the Commission to accept the organisers’ requests.

In 1995, the EU concluded an association agreement with Israel aimed at strengthening trade, political dialogue, and scientific, technological, and cultural cooperation. The EU is Israel’s main trading partner: over 34 per cent of Israeli imports come from European countries, while 28.8 per cent of Israeli exports are destined for the EU. In 2024, total trade in goods reached €42.6 billion.