European lawmakers urge EU to ban trade in products from illegal Israeli settlements

Members of the European Parliament on Thursday urged the EU to introduce a binding ban on trade in products originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying labeling requirements and partial measures are no longer sufficient. Speaking at a session of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) in Brussels, lawmakers called on the European Commission to present a legislative proposal to halt such trade, arguing that the EU has an obligation under international law to stop supporting Israel's illegal settlement activities.

INTA Chair Bernd Lange criticized the commission for allegedly using the absence of a qualified majority in the council as a reason not to initiate legislation. He pointed to the EU's legislative process on phasing out Russian liquefied natural gas imports, saying the commission had presented its proposal without first establishing whether sufficient support existed among member states. "It is totally unacceptable that in this case the commission is blocking and hiding behind this discussion in secret with the council," Lange said.

Spanish lawmaker Hana Jalloul Muro said declarations, labeling requirements, and partial measures were insufficient, calling for an immediate and binding EU-wide instrument consistent with international law. "Stop hiding behind excuses about qualified majorities, unanimity, and endless procedural discussions, such arguments are unacceptable in the face of the scale of this problem, both in terms of international law and the dignity and credibility of our institutions.

It is unacceptable for the European Union to be aware of its obligations and still fail to act," she said. She also warned that lawmakers were prepared to take the commission and council to the EU Court of Justice over their alleged failure to act. Dutch lawmaker Catarina Vieira similarly criticized the commission, saying no meaningful progress had been made on trade measures against products from illegal Israeli settlements during the previous five months.

She argued that improving the tracking and labeling of these goods would not address the underlying problem, insisting that the EU should halt the trade rather than simply improve its monitoring. Vieira stressed that the commission could propose a trade ban under the EU's common commercial policy without first securing a qualified majority among member states. Irish lawmaker Barry Andrews questioned the commission's position that a lack of agreement among member states prevented it from presenting a legislative proposal.

"Why is there no proposal?" Andrews asked, urging the commission to put forward legislation and allow the parliament and council to negotiate its provisions. Responding to lawmakers, European External Action Service official Vladimir Janecek said the situation in Gaza remained catastrophic and conditions in the occupied West Bank had further deteriorated, citing expanding illegal settlement plans and increasingly organized violence by extremist occupiers.

Janecek added that proposals to suspend certain trade-related provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, impose sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers and occupiers, and suspend bilateral financial support to Israel remained on the table, although only the sanctions against extremist occupiers had been adopted, due to a lack of consensus among member states.