REACTION: EU Foreign Minister informal meeting in Wicklow
Speaking ahead of the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Wicklow, Ireland today and tomorrow, September 1-2, Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland CEO said:
“Compliance with international law cannot depend on Israel’s electoral calendar. EU governments cannot keep on finding new reasons to delay while these illegal settlements continue to expand, amid escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
“EU countries already acknowledged in July that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The law is clear on that. Which begs the question - why then is the EU still not prepared to act?
“No decision can be taken when the informal meeting of foreign ministers takes place in Wicklow, but they can put the wheels in motion. Otherwise, this risks becoming another lap around the EU’s roundabout of indecision.
“Action must not be deferred until peace talks conclude or election results emerge. Peace talks and elections do not change the law, or the violent, oppressive conditions Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory face daily under Israel’s illegal occupation. The EU knows its legal obligations; what is missing is the political will to act on them.
“The EU has already acknowledged that current measures do not stop goods from illegal settlements from entering the European market. Anything short of a ban allows settlement trade to continue through the back door and onto European shelves.
“There is a technical point with major political consequences: how the measure is brought forward. A settlement trade ban should be brought forward as a trade measure under Article 207, where qualified majority voting is the general rule. Requiring unanimity risks handing every government a veto and producing yet another EU deadlock.
“The EU should stop contradicting itself, and end trade in goods, services and investments with illegal Israeli settlements. Anything less is failing to address longstanding international legal obligations.
“Banning trade with illegal settlements is the bare minimum requirement, and the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement should be the next step in halting the continued injustices.”
Ends
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