{"id":1846,"date":"2004-10-27T22:35:43","date_gmt":"2004-10-27T22:35:43","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2004-10-27T22:35:43","modified_gmt":"2004-10-27T22:35:43","slug":"subject-eu-to-debate-strengthening-ties-with-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/?p=1846","title":{"rendered":"SUBJECT EU to debate strengthening ties with Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reuters, DPV<\/div>\n

SUBJECT EU to debate strengthening ties with Israel<\/h3>\n

By Reuters<\/p>\n

11\/10-04<\/p>\n

BRUSSELS – The European Union is heading for a row over ties with Israel<\/p>\n

as it attempts to introduce a major new policy designed to bring the bloc<\/p>\n

closer to its neighbours, EU diplomats said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The dispute hinges on whether the EU should extend highly advantageous<\/p>\n

economic and political ties to Israel while at the same time condemning<\/p>\n

the Jewish state for disproportionate use of force against Palestinians in<\/p>\n

Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday are due to discuss<\/p>\n

“action plans” to strengthen ties with the enlarged bloc’s new neighbours,<\/p>\n

under the recently-adopted European Neighbourhood Policy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The ministers will debate the first plans – for Moldova, Ukraine, Jordan,<\/p>\n

Morocco, Tunisia, the Palestinian Authority and Israel.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

An official of the EU’s Dutch presidency said the plans were due to be<\/p>\n

adopted by national leaders at a summit on Nov. 5.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The European Neighbourhood Policy is designed as a substitute for<\/p>\n

membership for countries surrounding the bloc, with which the EU would share<\/p>\n

“everything but institutions”.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Neighbours will be expected to introduce economic and political reforms to<\/p>\n

achieve EU standards of governance.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In return they would eventually receive free trade, the freedom to move<\/p>\n

and work across the bloc and all benefits of membership except voting rights<\/p>\n

and representation in bodies like the European Parliament and the European<\/p>\n

Commission.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Diplomats divided<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But EU ambassadors were deeply divided at a meeting on Wednesday over<\/p>\n

whether to make such an offer to Israel while the Israeli army was<\/p>\n

pressing ahead with its biggest offensive in four years in the Gaza Strip, an EU<\/p>\n

diplomat said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Israel says the offensive is to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets<\/p>\n

at Israeli towns.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“Imagine, if the disproportionate use of force is being condemned by<\/p>\n

everyone, and at the same time the EU offers this magic plan to move<\/p>\n

Israel and the EU closer to each other — a plan which benefits the Israelis,”<\/p>\n

the diplomat said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“At the bottom of this is how we can use for the best our leverage with<\/p>\n

Israel. After all, they will get everything but institutions.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Some EU members, including Germany and the Czech Republic, advocate either<\/p>\n

adopting all seven plans together, or none.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Others, including Sweden, Ireland and Spain, say it is impossible to move<\/p>\n

forward with Israel at present and suggest adopting some but leaving the<\/p>\n

most contentious for later.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A Dutch presidency note on Monday’s foreign ministers’ meeting said<\/p>\n

negotiations on the action plans are concluded with six of the partners<\/p>\n

but are still continuing with Israel.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The EU is a member of a “Quartet” — with the United States, United<\/p>\n

Nations and Russia — promoting peace in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Because the action plans are tailor-made for each partner and differ<\/p>\n

significantly from each other, an EU diplomat said, the EU wanted to<\/p>\n

include<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

in the Israeli plan language committing it to a “road map” for peace<\/p>\n

outlined by the Quartet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“Israel is resisting any mention of the Quartet or of obligations towards<\/p>\n

the road map. Without these references the action plan will be difficult<\/p>\n

for many member states, to say the least,” the diplomat said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Other diplomats said the Ukraine plan was also contentious in view of an<\/p>\n

Oct. 31 presidential election, in which the EU has appealed for a free<\/p>\n

poll but expressed worries over whether the administration of President Leonid<\/p>\n

Kuchma will allow one.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

11\/10-04<\/p>\n

SUBJECT EU to debate strengthening ties with Israel<\/p>\n

By Reuters<\/p>\n

BRUSSELS – The European Union is heading for a row over ties with Israel
\nas it attempts to introduce a major new policy designed to bring the bloc
\ncloser to its neighbour L\u00e6s resten →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,401],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}