A ban on importing goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories to the European Union has moved a step closer after foreign ministers of the bloc's 27 member states overwhelmingly backed tighter trade restrictions.
Although support is not yet unanimous, as it would need to be for action to be taken, it is reported that Monday's ministerial meeting saw the highest level of support yet for a ban to be imposed.
Under international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal, and a range of economic measures was presented to ministers at the meeting. "The option that got the most support was banning the trade with the illegal settlements," the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas told reporters afterward.
The EU Observer website says that there are 45 settler firms exporting agricultural produce and construction equipment to the EU, and trade between the whole of Israel and the EU grew from 42.6 billion euros ($48.5 billion) in 2024 to 43.3 billion euros in 2025, although it is hard to specify how much of that comes from settlements.
The next scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers is not until October, shortly before elections take place in Israel, which could make any EU decisions over the issue particularly politically sensitive, so Kallas said an extraordinary ministerial meeting may happen before then to try and move the matter forward.
