Ireland is reportedly probing the legality of the European Union trade agreement with Israel ahead of a European Council meeting in September.
Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Simon Harris, of the Fine Gael party, said on August 30 he had referred the matter to his country’s attorney general.
Harris in particular highlighted lines in the deal discussing the need to respect human rights as a point of contention for his government.
“I don’t believe human rights clauses in trade agreements are there for padding. They’re not there to make the agreement longer. They’re not there to make people feel nice or warm or fuzzy,” the Irish Independent on August 30 reported the PM as saying.
“They’re there because they have real meaning, and in the midst of one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of our lifetime, when children are dying and where the World Food Programme cannot properly function, where we’re seeing the conflict spreading into the West Bank — which is clearly utterly disproportionate — it is really important that all governments, including the Irish Government, continue to probe what more can be done.”
Harris emphasised that the EU “should review” the agreement in this light, adding that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Spain would also be pushing EU leaders to find ways of pressuring Israel regarding the war with Palestine.
“I’ve always said consistently that it’s really appropriate and important that all countries, and indeed the European Union use all levers at their disposal to help bring about a ceasefire,” he said.
“It’s not enough to simply say, I want a ceasefire. You have to look at everything that a country and indeed the European Union can do to create that environment in which a ceasefire becomes an inevitability, because the humanitarian catastrophe cannot be allowed to continue.
“Myself and the Spanish Prime Minister continue to lead the charge that the European Union should review the association trade agreement between the EU and Israel. I welcome the fact that a number of other member states support that position.
“I continue to advocate for it everywhere I go, including in my meeting with the French President in Paris this week,” Harris added.
The Taoiseach’s comments came amid rapidly deteriorating relations between Israel and Ireland.
Ireland’s recognition of Palestine as a State caused particular ructions in the Israeli Government, with the country’s foreign minister Israel Katz accusing the EPP-led Irish Government of “rewarding Hamas” for the October 7 attack by the terrorists with its latest move.
Recent flashpoints include Ireland’s arrest of a British rabbi over his performance of circumcisions in the country, as well as the Irish President Michael Higgins’ decision to congratulate Iran’s new President upon his appointment in July.
Ireland’s former European People’s Party (EPP) prime minister, Leo Varadkar, is reportedly palling about with ex-US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. https://t.co/45KFJ2RTuy
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 23, 2024
