2013-Aug-16 European Union

EU-Israeli relations this quarter were dominated by controversy over new European guidelines restricting funding on projects with Israeli institutions which had ties to settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (see Update in JPS 169). Soon after the release of the guidelines, it became clear that the EU was anxious to minimize their potential impact. On 8/25, at a Jerusalem press conference, visiting French FM Laurent Fabius stated that the guidelines would need to be carefully examined to ensure they did not go beyond what was intended, adding that Israeli officials had repeatedly brought up the issue with him. In response to U.S. calls for the restrictions be postponed to not hinder negotiations, EU Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton said (9/7) the EU would ensure that the new guidelines would not harm relations with Israel, prompting criticism from Rabbuh (9/9) who berated Kerry’s efforts to pressure the EU into postponing action. A few days later, Israeli Foreign Ministry officials and senior EU officials met in Jerusalem (9/10) to discuss the new guidelines and both sides issued upbeat assessments of how matters were progressing. Israeli and EU officials met again on 9/12, with around a dozen participants from each side holding talks for 7 hours in Brussels. Much of the discussion focused on Israel’s participation in the Horizon 2020 R&D framework, an initiative considered to be worth preserving in both sides’ interests. All the same, the Palestinian side did receive a boost to its position when 15 former senior European officials—including former French FM Hubert Vedrine, former German Dep. FM Wolfgang Ischinger and former EU Foreign Affairs chief Javier Solana—signed off on a letter urging the EU (9/16) not to soften or delay the implementation of Horizon 2020. (For more information on the guidelines, see Doc. A2 in JPS 169.)