Brussels, 13/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - The EU-Israel Council of Association is to meet in Luxembourg on Monday 16 June on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council. As well as the usual exercise of reviewing cooperation under the association agreement, this session will also deal with a highly sensitive issue, which has already mobilised a considerable number of European and Arab country parliamentarians against any idea of granting Israel a status of quasi-Member State of the EU. The exercise of "upgrading" these relations was proposed by Israel in a "non paper" tabled in October 2007 and examinations of which has, according to the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, been the subject of meetings carried out under the greatest of discretion, not to say absolute secrecy. An institutional summation has been sent by President Pöttering to the Commission for the Parliament to be kept abreast of the next stage in the process of the Israeli requests.
Monday's session should shed more light on the response of the Community- Commission and Council- to this Israeli approach and request for the Hebrew state to be involved in all centres of decision-making and debates of the Community. A Commission text was put before Coreper, on which discussions are believed to have proved unfruitful, as demonstrated by the fact that no common position was as yet forthcoming early on Friday afternoon. Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic are believed, according to reliable sources, to have called for the text to be "improved", to reinforce the "warm welcome" in principle reserved for the Israeli request.
According to our sources, the EU is getting ready, in line with the text not yet consolidated, to "respond positively" to Israel, "expressing (its) great satisfaction" at this initiative, which "will mark a new phase in relations" between the EU and Israel. Seven priority axes will be defined to consolidate this cooperation reinforcement procedure. At this stage in discussions, however, there is no clear indication as to whether the Member States will reiterate that Israel is to remain a "third country", even if any "advanced status" is granted to the country. The EU is believed to have indicated in its response that it "considers that there is a need for measures to be taken as a matter of urgency" to build confidence, to ensure the safety of the Israelis and to make everyday life easier for the Palestinians. This is a direct reference to the peace process, stressing that any strengthening of European relations with Israel would have to feed into the search for peace in the region and the establishment of two States existing alongside each other in peace and security. (F.B./trans.fl)