Brussels, 18/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 17 July, the Israeli government cranked up pressure on the EU to delay official publication of the guidelines on the eligibility of Israeli entities to European funding. The guidelines are supposed to be implemented on 1 January 2014. According to European sources, the document is expected, however, to be published as planned, on Friday 19 July.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. According to the Israeli media, he requested a delay in the publication of the guidelines, underlining that publication before the end of the week would hinder American efforts to reactivate peace talks. According to a senior Israeli official, the two leaders agreed to continue talks on the matter.
Barroso's spokesperson, Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen, confirmed to EUROPE that the phone call did, indeed, take place. “The president of the Commission explained the context and the objective of the guidelines. He reiterated that they do not represent a shift in the EU position. The intention is to continue EU-Israel cooperation within its internationally recognised borders. The EU supports the US efforts to resume the peace talks without pre-conditions”, she said. The Israeli president, Shimon Perès, and US Secretary of State John Kerry also called Barroso.
According to Israeli officials, Netanyahu also contacted several European heads of state and government - including French President François Hollande, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, and the prime ministers of Greece, Antonis Samaras, and Malta, Joseph Muscat - in order to ask them to delay the publication of the controversial document. He is said to have evoked problems of greater urgency and importance in the Middle East that should be dealt with as a priority, such as the conflict in Syria and the Iranian nuclear programme.
The Israeli minister for justice and the chief negotiator for the peace process, Tzipi Livni, telephoned EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton on the very same matter. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Livni sought to convince Ashton of how important it was for the EU to allow Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a border agreement, rather than a unilateral EU decision. Ashton's spokesperson confirmed to EUROPE that Ashton had held talks with several interlocutors, including Livni. The two women discussed guidelines and the Middle East peace process. According to the Jerusalem Post, Livni also met the EU special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Andreas Reinicke, to tell him that delaying the publication of the guidelines would help to rekindle the peace process. (CG/transl.jl)