A Brussels power struggle rages over 'options' to restrict or ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements
A long-running EU feud will burst into the open in Brussels on Monday, as foreign ministers examine an array of contentious options for banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
For months, Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission has locked horns with the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s diplomatic corps run by Kaja Kallas, in a power struggle over who should control foreign policy.
Countries including France, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, and the Netherlands have pushed for an EU-wide ban on trade with illegal settlements, arguing it’s imperative to bring the bloc into line with international law.
Kallas, herself under pressure from 11 foreign ministers, has in turn pressed her colleagues in the Commission, and accused them earlier this year of stymying work on a legal review she requested in April.
