Ireland Joins Eight Other EU Nations in Urging Talks to End Trade with Israeli Settlements
Ireland has teamed up with eight other member states to urge the European Commission to investigate how goods manufactured in illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories “can be aligned with international law.”
The letter received co-signatures from Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
In a post on social media, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot stated: “This follows the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, which clearly indicates that third countries must refrain from any trade or investment that sustains an illegal situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
He added: “Maintaining international law is a collective responsibility. In a rules-based international order, legal clarity must direct political choices.”
This initiative seems to support the Irish Government’s belief that the ICJ opinion provides a legal basis for the Occupied Territories Bill, asserting that the opinion takes precedence over the EU’s exclusive competence regarding trade with third countries.
While the EU does not prohibit goods from Israeli settlements, such products must be clearly labeled, and they are not eligible for preferential tariffs.
A forthcoming review is anticipated to conclude that Israel has violated the trade agreement with the EU.
An eagerly awaited assessment of the EU-Israel trade agreement is expected to reveal that Israel breached the agreement’s human rights and international law clauses amid its military actions in Gaza, according to RTÉ News.
The review will be shared with member states tomorrow, and EU foreign ministers will discuss it during their monthly meeting in Brussels on Monday.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who initiated the review following a request from the Dutch government, will also brief EU leaders on its findings at their upcoming summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Despite the findings, member states are not expected to immediately formalize sanctions against Israel.
Diplomats believe they may revisit this matter at the foreign ministers’ meeting in July.
National capitals reportedly prefer to avoid a divisive discussion on potential trade sanctions against Israel at both Monday’s foreign ministers’ meeting and the subsequent summit of EU leaders.
Sources indicate that preserving EU unity is favored, with the hope that Israel will significantly enhance humanitarian aid for Gaza to preempt any punitive measures in July.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement governs aspects of trade, political relations, cultural and educational exchanges, and R&D collaboration between both parties.
Article 2 of the Agreement mandates that both sides commit to upholding human rights and international humanitarian law.
Last year, Ireland and Spain jointly proposed a review of the Agreement, arguing that Israel was violating Article 2.
Although former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell commissioned a report into Israel’s actions in Gaza last year, there was insufficient consensus at the EU level to take further action due to strong opposition from Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic against imposing sanctions on Israel.
However, following Israel’s imposition of a humanitarian blockade on Gaza and intensified military operations after the ceasefire collapsed in March, the Dutch government initiated a new request, resulting in majority support for a review at last month’s EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
Ms. Kallas then directed the EU’s diplomatic service, the EEAS, to conduct the review.
Yesterday, she told the European Parliament: “Israel has a right to self-defense. However, what we are witnessing from Israel goes beyond self-defense. We have made this very clear in recent weeks.”
“Preventing food and medicine from reaching Palestinians trapped in Gaza does not protect Israel. Bypassing UN aid deliveries does not help those in need. It undermines decades of humanitarian principles, and the humanitarian situation continues to worsen.”
Human rights organizations are urging the EU to suspend various elements of its trade relationship with Israel.
Over 100 international human rights and humanitarian organizations, along with trade unions, have collectively called on the EU to take this step.
The joint statement, issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW), includes signatories such as ActionAid Ireland, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and Oxfam Ireland.
The statement, endorsed by 113 organizations, demands that the EU ensure the ongoing review of Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement be thorough, comprehensive, and credible.
“Article 2 establishes that respect for human rights and democratic principles constitutes an ‘essential element’ of the agreement.”
“Amid overwhelming evidence of Israel’s atrocities and serious human rights abuses against Palestinians throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), a credible review can only reach one conclusion: that Israel is in severe non-compliance with Article 2.”
The statement urges the European Commission and all member states to support “meaningful and concrete measures, including the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, at least partially.”
‘Appalled’
The signatories express that they are “appalled” by the extended duration it took the EU to initiate the review, despite an initial request by Spain and Ireland in February 2024.
The statement referenced international court rulings, arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, and numerous reports from UN organizations, independent experts, prominent NGOs, and academics that “[exposed] Israel’s severe violations of human rights and international humanitarian law across the Occupied Territories, including war crimes, crimes against humanity—including forced displacement, apartheid, extermination—and genocide.”
South Africa has filed a case with the International Court of Justice alleging that Israel is complicit in genocide amid its military actions in Gaza. The case is currently ongoing.
The joint statement notes that, despite similar findings being presented to EU foreign ministers in November 2024, the only response was to convene the EU-Israel Association Council in February.
Despite ministers at that meeting calling for a ceasefire, large-scale humanitarian aid, full adherence to international humanitarian law, and a cessation of Israel’s illegal settlement policies, “Israeli authorities blatantly did the opposite, [with] again no consequences for EU-Israel bilateral relations—until now.”
The statement further adds that there were three separate binding rulings issued by the ICJ following Israel’s decision to blockade humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, which called on the government to permit unhindered access for aid.
“As parties to the Genocide Convention, all EU member states are obliged to ‘employ all means reasonably available to them’ to prevent genocide,” the statement emphasizes.
“This obligation arises not once a definitive judicial determination is made, but as soon as a state becomes aware, or should have been aware, of a serious risk that genocide might occur.”
Experts claim that the ICJ ruling regarding Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is binding on EU institutions and member states.
The ruling, issued in the form of an advisory opinion by the ICJ in July of last year, found Israel’s occupation to be unlawful and called for the cessation of new settlements while requiring reparations to Palestinians who had lost land and property.
The opinion asserted that all states are obliged not to recognize the occupation as legal or provide “aid or assistance” that sustains Israel’s control over the occupied territories.
The EU has contested the idea that this advisory ruling is binding on member states or EU institutions.
Nonetheless, a panel of international legal experts has challenged this interpretation.
The legal assessment argued that “breaches identified by the Court have generated international legal obligations binding not only on EU Member States but also on the EU and its institutions.”
“The EU must fulfill its international legal obligations in its functions and powers; it is bound by rules of general international law, including universally accepted customary international law, applicable to EU institutions.”
“EU law must also be interpreted consistently with pertinent rules of international law, especially those of a peremptory nature.”
This legal opinion was spearheaded by Gleider Hernández, Professor of Public International Law at KU Leuven University in Belgium, and Ramses A Wessel, Professor of European Law at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
The opinion was requested by five cross-party MEPs, including Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews.
The experts state that “the gravity, intensity, and scope of these violations of international law led the [ICJ] to acknowledge that third parties are under specific legal obligations to assist in ending Israel’s unlawful presence in the OPT and refrain from recognizing its illegal effects, along with abstaining from any aid or assistance regarding Israel’s wrongful actions.”
The ICJ advisory opinion mandates that EU member states refrain from any treaty relations with Israel where it “pretends to act on behalf of, or in relation to, the OPT; to avoid economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the OPT or parts thereof that might reinforce its unlawful presence in the territory; and to take measures to prevent trade or investment relations that support the maintenance of the illegal situation.”
The legal experts further stated that the EU should consider the ICJ opinion in its ongoing review of Israel’s adherence to the human rights clause in the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
“These findings warrant invoking Article 2 and adopting suitable responsive measures,” the experts assert. “Such measures might include partially or fully suspending the Agreement due to the serious violations of peremptory norms of international law by Israel identified in the Advisory Opinion.”
Following the release of the expert legal opinion, Mr. Andrews stated: “The EU must significantly strengthen its regulations concerning ongoing funding for Israeli companies and institutions through the research cooperation program Horizon Europe and the European Investment Bank, in order to meet the obligations identified by the Court and potentially suspend such payments altogether.”
“Licenses for arms exports must be reassessed considering the armed violence against Palestinians committed by Israeli settlers and security forces as identified by the Court.”
“The EU-Israel trade agreement is crucial to the Israeli economy. Monday is the moment for the EU to finally take action.”
