The informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Copenhagen on Saturday 30 August once again demonstrated the divisions between the Member States over the possible adoption of measures against Israel.
“It is clear that the Member States disagree on how to get the Israeli government to change course”, the High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, acknowledged at the end of the meeting.
While the ministers had no shortage of words to denounce the situation in Gaza - “catastrophic” for the Austrian, a “most serious humanitarian disaster” for the Dane, an “absolutely horrible and devastating” situation for the Swede and an “absolute tragedy” for the French - and while “everyone understands that the humanitarian situation is really very, very bad right now” in Gaza, “within the European Union, unfortunately, we have not found a consensus” for action, summed up the Estonian minister, Margus Tsahkna, on his arrival at the informal meeting.
A number of ministers in favour of measures underlined their frustration upon their arrival. “The EU is doing too little, too late, and doing nothing, with no results. The time for declarations is over. We have to move forward”, warned Spain’s José Manuel Albares.
“We are not doing nearly enough. (...) Words matter, but they’re not enough”, stressed the Irish minister, Simon Harris, who said that the eyes of the world were riveted on the EU and that the citizens of Europe were watching them and were “unhappy”, the slogans chanted for the last two days outside the building where the meeting was held by dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators were in line with his comments.
Although no decisions were expected due to the informal format of the meeting, Ms Kallas explained: “We had a very good discussion about different options and we will continue to try to find ways to explore what we can do”.
Danish Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose country holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, “urged EU Member States to increase pressure on Israel to change course”.
In a speech in Bled on Monday, the President of the European Council, António Costa, reiterated that unanimity in the Common Foreign and Security Policy was “not a right of veto, but, on the contrary, the particular responsibility of each Member State to build compromises in a spirit of loyal cooperation”.
No majority for the adoption of measures. The High Representative sent the ball back to the countries blocking the proposed options. “We had a very frank discussion, asking the countries that were not in favour of one measure or another. What could the measure be? If we all agree on the diagnosis of the seriousness of the situation, then the question is: what should we do? We have a growing majority on various issues, but we don’t yet have the votes we need”, she reiterated.
At present, none of the proposed options has received even a qualified majority of the Member States. “Even the option we are proposing, which is fairly lenient as regards its participation [Israel’s participation, editor’s note] in the Horizon Europe programme, does not have a qualified majority”, Ms Kallas pointed out.
The German minister, Johann Wadephul, voiced his opposition to this measure. “I am not aware that a discontinuation of such meaningful cooperation between the European Union and civilian bodies and scientific organisations in Israel could influence the political decision-making process and plans for further military action against the Gaza Strip, and that is why we are not so convinced by these proposals”, he explained on his arrival.
Upon their arrival, the ministers were all full of proposals regarding measures to take.
The Austrian and Italian ministers, Beate Meinl-Reisinger and Antonio Tajani, called for sanctions against violent settlers in the West Bank. A proposal combining sanctions against settlers and Hamas has been on the EU Council table for several months, but Hungary has so far prevented its adoption.
“Increasing the number of settlers subject to sanctions could be a wise choice, a clear message to avoid undermining the foundations of the Palestinian State in the future”, explained Mr Tajani. “This is the first step, and if it doesn’t work, we can consider other measures”, he added.
According to the Spanish minister, “the list of people sanctioned must be extended to include anyone, absolutely anyone, who wants to undermine the two-state solution”. But not all Member States are prepared to sanction far-right members of the Netanyahu government.
Another subject of debate: a limit on exports from the settlements. “To achieve this, we need a consensus, which is probably impossible to reach, but we should then try to find other innovative solutions. We could, for example, impose customs duties on these goods”, which would only require a qualified majority, explained the Danish minister. The Dutch minister, Ruben Brekelmans, and the Luxembourg minister, Xavier Bettel, called for an embargo on settlement products.
The latter explained to Agence Europe that he was in the process of examining the legal arsenal in his country to allow for national measures to be taken.
While several Member States have called for the suspension of the Association Agreement with Israel, or of the trade part of it (see EUROPE 13690/2), the Austrian minister reiterated her country’s opposition to this.
For his part, the Czech minister, Jan Lipavský, stressed the need for dialogue, pointing out that Ms Kallas’ dialogue with the Israeli minister, Gideon Sa’ar, had led to the opening of humanitarian corridors. “If we do it properly, we can, for example, contribute to the humanitarian situation”, he said.
According to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, the heads of state or government may have to take restrictive measures in the coming weeks.
Europeans are calling on the United States to reconsider its refusal to grant visas to the Palestinian Authority. The High Representative also announced that all the ministers had urged the US to reconsider their position regarding their refusal to issue - or the revocation of - visas for 80 leaders of the Palestinian Authority, including Mahmoud Abbas, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, “taking into account the existing headquarter agreements between the UN and its host State”. At the UNGA, several European states are expected to recognise the State of Palestine.
“There can be no restrictions on access to a United Nations General Assembly”, explained Mr Barrot.
According to Mr Harris, the idea that the leader of the Palestinian Authority should be denied the opportunity to attend the conference on the two-state solution is “simply unacceptable”.
“This is not normal, we must be able to discuss together, we cannot simply say that Palestine is excluded from the dialogue”, added Mr Bettel, who proposed that a special session of the General Assembly be held in Geneva, the other UN headquarters, “so that we can listen and have a discussion on Palestine”. We cannot be taken hostage”, he warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)