The European Commission says unanimity is required, but the Council of the EU backs qualified majority voting
The European Commission has found itself on one side of an institutional fight over restricting trade with Israeli settlements, frustrating national capitals that have spent months pressing the EU executive to come forward with proposals.
Rather than tabling legislation, the Commission presented foreign ministers on Monday with a two-page options paper outlining possible ways to curb imports from settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The paper, sent to delegations last week and seen by Euractiv, sketches out three possible routes: tighter import licensing, punitive tariffs or an outright ban.
However, it strongly implies that each would require the unanimous support of member states because it would constitute a foreign policy decision. That legal interpretation puts the Commission firmly alongside Germany and Italy.
