Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday will stop short of deciding whether to impose tariffs or restrict imports. The immediate question is whether the countries behind the push can secure the majority needed to demand a formal Commission proposal that governments could vote on later.
Any resulting trade measure would have limited economic impact. Trade with illegal West Bank settlements makes up about 0.5 percent of the EU’s overall trade with Israel, according to the Commission’s estimate in a confidential discussion paper seen by POLITICO.
But, as has become common since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, the issue ballooned to dominate the foreign ministers’ agenda ahead of Monday’s gathering, overshadowing other subjects, such as a push to finalize a 21st package of sanctions against Russia, or the bloc’s relations with Gulf countries.
“The settlements are illegal,” said Nacho Sánchez Amor, a Spanish lawmaker on the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. “The best solution is simply to prohibit any import of goods produced in the settlements.”
The German-led Commission has resisted proposing new trade measures against the settlements, arguing that similar proposals have previously been tabled and rejected. The EU executive is flanked by Prague as well as Berlin, which intends to veto or abstain on any vote concerning tariffs on Israel, according to a senior EU diplomat familiar with Berlin’s thinking.
Kallas, who is due to preside over Monday’s meeting, has publicly urged the Commission to come up with new trade measures. The top diplomat is currently locked in a dispute with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar over reports she used the word “apartheid” to describe the Israeli state.