MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Measures regarding imports from Israel’s apartheid regime and illegal occupation in the occupied territories of Palestine and Lebanon – E-002158/2024(ASW)

The Association Agreement with Israel[1] is the legal basis for the ongoing dialogue with the Israeli authorities. In this framework, the EU will continue to reaffirm its commitment to the applicability of human rights and humanitarian law in the o ccupied Palestinian territory.

The Commission closely coordinates its position with the Council of the EU on the matters raised in the written question of the Honourable Member of the European Parliament.

A possible decision to suspend the entire Association Agreement with Israel would require a Council Decision and would, in accordance with Articles 217 and 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, require unanimity by Member States.

The EU has a long-standing position on the non-recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 and considers Israel’s settlements in the o ccupied Palestinian t erritory illegal.

The EU applies a differentiation policy to ensure that goods originating from Israeli settlements in the o ccupied Palestinian t erritory do not benefit from trade preferences under the Association Agreement.

In 2015, the Commission adopted an Interpretative Notice to provide guidance on the labelling of products from Israeli settlements in the o ccupied Palestinian t erritory and how the existing legislation on labelling should be applied[2].

The approach of the Interpretative Notice was confirmed by a judgment of the European Court of Justice in 2019[3]. Official controls on the labelling of imported goods are primarily the responsibility of Member States , in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls on the agri-food chain[4].

• [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:411c0668-144d-44a1-a5e3-dd2342f7a5b5.0017.02/DOC_1&format=PDF
• [2] 2015 EC interpretative notice on the indication of goods from the territories occupied by Israel: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52015XC1112(01)
• [3] 2019 European Court of Justice ruling on foodstuffs originating in the occupied territories: https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=A16C97FD2EEC535918F5478A663AC7D6?text=&docid=220534&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=8005913
• [4] http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/625/oj