The European Commission says it is “not planning” to implement any ban on commercial products arriving from Israeli settlements.
That comes after the European Union brought in tighter labelling rules on Israeli goods sourced from the West Bank last year. Brussels insisted the move was merely “technical” in nature rather than punitive, when talking to their counterparts in Jerusalem.
Since the beginning of the current Israel-Palestine conflict, several EU lawmakers have demanded tighter restrictions be placed on Israeli products, especially if they originate from territories deemed to be “under occupation”.
“The settlements are illegal under international law and a purported war crime under the Statute of Rome,” European People’s Party MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen said in a letter to the EC.
“Is the Commission planning to submit a proposal for a legal act under EU consumer protection law to ban settlement products from entering the EU single market or to make it mandatory to clearly label settlement products?”
Replying to the Finnish politician, EC Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said there were no plans to implement a ban on such imports, or impose any additional labelling beyond what was already required under EU law.
“The Commission is not planning to submit a proposal for a legal act under EU consumer protection law to ban settlement products from entering the EU single market,” he said on January 24.
He went on to emphasise that, while the products were still allowed to enter the EU, they could not receive the same benefits other imports from Israel.
“Imports from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are excluded from the preferential treatment foreseen under the EU-Israel Association Agreement,” he said.
The international community must impose a solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict as the warring sides are unable to come to terms, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday. https://t.co/B1sHtjneBO
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 3, 2024
