19/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).has expressed concern regarding the dramatic situation in Gaza and Lebanon. Its General Secretary John Monks supports the Council of Europe's call for a ceasefire on Monday (see EUROPE 9234) while deploring: “However, the European Union is not playing as full a part as it could in working towards a peaceful solution. The EU is Israel's largest trade partner and shares a European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan with Israel with a high level of ambition. The EU is also the largest donor to the Palestinians (…) All this should ensure the EU's influence on the parties. But divided views in the Council and the absence of the institutional presence that Javier Solana would have enjoyed had the Constitutional Treaty been in force, have led once more to a timid response”.