The European Union should consider suspending its free trade agreement with Israel, restrict or ban the purchase of goods from Occupied Palestinian Territories and end visa-free travel into member states for Israeli settlers, a report carried out for a group of MEPs argues.
The legal opinion states that European governments need to take concrete steps to make sure they are not supporting Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The academics say last year’s advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, which stated that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory breached international law, puts greater obligations on the EU and other governments.
The report, published on Thursday, was written by Gleider Hernández, a professor of public international law at KU Leuven university, and Ramses Wessel, a professor of European law at the University of Groningen.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews, one of those who commissioned the report, said it showed the EU had “no room” to avoid taking action against Israel.
The two legal academics say there is a range of options available to the EU that would cut off indirect support to illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory.
The EU could suspend its association agreement with Israel, which governs relations and a long-standing free trade deal, the report says. This could be done “in part or in full”, given Israel’s serious violations of international law, it adds.
Foreign ministers from the 27 EU member states are meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss a review of Israel’s actions during its war in Gaza. The review, ordered by a majority of member states in recent weeks, is being carried out by the EU’s diplomatic corps.
Several foreign ministers are expected to call for action to be taken against Israel at the meeting, to pressure the Israeli Government to allow sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by an Israeli invasion and bombardment campaign that began after the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7th, 2023.
The legal opinion from Mr Hernández and Mr Wessel recommends that the EU consider restricting, or potentially banning, the purchase of goods produced by Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
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Countries in the union should cease “trade or economic dealings with Israeli settlements” that would “entrench” their presence in areas such as the West Bank, it argues.
The academics say the EU could end an exemption that allows Israeli citizens living in Occupied Palestinian Territories to travel to the EU without needing to apply for visas.
European states had an obligation to “reassess” any licences they had granted approving the sale of weapons and arms to Israel, they say.
The report was commissioned by Mr Andrews, Green MEPs Tineke Strik and Villy Søvndal, and centre left MEPs Matjaž Nemec and Hana Jalloul Muro.
