Brussels, 02/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - Leila Chahid, General Delegate to the Palestinian General Delegation with the EU, calls for action to be taken against granting Israel special status that would give it the right to directly participate in many European policies and internal programmes. “With this message, I should like to invite you to rally together all non-governmental organisations of your countries to approach the European Parliament in order to prevent it granting this privilege to Israel before it implements principles for bringing peace”, she writes to organisations defending the Palestinian cause.
Unless there are changes to the agenda (see related article) on Thursday 4 December, in Brussels, the European Parliament should give its assent to conclusion of the protocol. During the vote in the EP foreign affairs committee on 5 November this year, the opinion on this protocol was given by 45 votes in favour, no votes against and 4 abstentions. Rapporteur Véronique De Keyser (PES, Belgium) stresses that granting such a status to Israel means the latter must “respect commitments given at the Annapolis summit” and that “companies and organisations based in the settlements in the occupied territories must not be eligible to take part in Community programmes”. According to the draft resolution, the Commission and member states are asked to “verify that any participation by Israeli entities in Community programmes complies with EU law and policies” and that the privileged status “should not be to the advantage of Israeli settlements in non-eligible occupied territories (…). Measures should be taken to prevent Israeli companies and organisations in settlement colonies from taking part in the programmes, by stepping up controls on Israeli products imported in the EU under the preferential regime”. The draft text recommends that “infringement proceedings should be started if products from the occupied Palestinian territories bearing Israeli labels are exported to the Union”. The text submitted to the approval of the plenary session extends the scope of cooperation and the fate of the special framework of special relations with Israel. Increased participation (in European policies and internal programmes) should serve as a model for action with other European neighbourhood policy partner countries, members of the EP foreign affairs committee say.
The dossier was brought out of the shadow shortly before the EU-Israel Association Council in Luxembourg on 16 June 2008. Shortly before the meeting with Israel, Ms De Keyser had revealed that discrete talks were taking place to fine-tune the project and that this had caused a formal reaction from the president of the Parliament, who demanded transparency. In a letter addressed to the European Commission and Council on 29 May, Hans-Gert Pöttering called for no secret negotiations to be carried out with Israel.
The EU had noted, during the Luxembourg meeting, Israel's wish to “upgrade” relations. The agreement between the 27 was accompanied, however, with political conditions, including that the approach must be within the vast range of common interests and objectives, which above all includes the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through implementation of the solution based on co-existence of both states. The EU takes the view that this enhanced cooperation is a “common goal” and that the deepening of cooperation is already a reality and that the current state of things shows the importance and the quality of relations between the EU and Israel in many areas. It affirms that special relations with Israel arise from “traditional links, cultural and human values, as well as from shared economic interests and security matters”, and it stresses that Israel is an “essential partner in the Mediterranean zone”, as it is a “real state under rule of law, with a dynamic market economy and a well-developed public administration”. Israel, the 27 stressed, “also has the necessary institutional structures and ever closer and deeper cooperation with the EU”. (F.B./transl.fl)