Options to restrict trade between the EU and illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank will be discussed by EU foreign affairs ministers on Monday (13 July).
An import-licensing regime, higher tariffs, and a trade ban on imports from Israeli settlements are the main options on the table by the European Commission, with the question of the legal basis at the core of the debate.
Unlike foreign policy, which requires unanimity, trade measures could be agreed by qualified majority vote.
But the European Commission has favoured the foreign policy route, requiring unanimity, in line with the preferences of countries such as Germany — even though this approach has repeatedly proven impossible in the past.
No decisions are expected on Monday, and the next opportunity for a potential proposal to be discussed or voted on would come on 12 October — just two weeks before Israel’s elections on 27 October.
