One of the points of her annual speech on her situation that certainly surprised many against ministers of his government and the partial suspension of the connection agreement with Tel Aviv, which concerns commercial issues.
After all, the outcry of Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip may be international and now expressed by even the most official lips of European diplomacy, but from the phrasal conviction to immediate handcuffing initiatives in the international diplomatic scene there is a great distance.
The presentation of measures
The European Union did not even block this issue at all, as yesterday, a week after the Union’s speech, European diplomacy chief Kaya Callas presented the committee’s proposals, including the imposition of tariffs on products.
Specifically, according to Mrs Callas, the plan includes the deterioration of trade relations with Israel and the imposition of sanctions on top Israeli officials, following the findings of human rights violations in Gaza.
The measures proposed by the European Commission-and which will require approval by Member States-include tariffs on imported goods from Israel, worth 5.8 billion euros, and sanctions on two Benjamin Netanyahu government officials: the Minister of National Security of the Italian Security.
The imposition of duties
Related to trade, this in practice means, inter alia, that the imports of goods from the Israel to the EU will impose duties at the level of any other third country with which the EU will be imposed. has no free trading agreement.
With the exception of support for civil society and Yad Vashem. Specifically, this affects the future annual funds between 2025 and 2027, as well as the ongoing projects of institutional cooperation with Israel and the projects funded under the EU Regional Cooperation Mechanism. – Israel.
Commercial measures if approved by EU countries It is estimated that they will increase the cost of certain Israeli imports, mainly agricultural, by around 227 million euros a year.
The EU Council (Member States) must approve the decision by a special majority.
Sanctions against Israeli ministers and Hamas executives
On the other hand, in terms of “Israeli government ministers”, under the global regime of EU Human Rights, in addition to the aforementioned Cypriots, Ben Gvir and Smotric, new penalties are also proposed.
At the same time, the Commission proposes sanctions by ten members of the Hamas Political Bureau. In this case, the EU Council must approve the decision on sanctions with unanimity.
Israel’s reaction
Israel, of course, reacted immediately, with its government warning that any European Union sanctions against Israel will receive the “appropriate response”.
‘The recommendations of the European Commission […] They are morally and politically distorted and we must hope that they will not be approved, “Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote in a post. “Any action against Israel will receive the appropriate answer and we hope it will not get there,” Saar added.
The recommendations of the college of Commissioners led by President von der Leyen are morally and politically distorted, and it is to be hoped that they will not be adopted as has been the case so far.
Moves against Israel will harm Europe’s own interests.
Israel will continue…– Gideon Sa’ar | Gideon Sa’ar (@gidonsaar)
Mathematics
But in order for all of this to be true, the Commission must overcome a very important reef, that of approval of the measures. As mentioned above, the issue of duties apply different conditions than those of sanctions, as they can be approved by an increased majority by the Council, in contrast to the unanimity required for sanctions.
And ensuring the increased majority, most notably unanimity, it is anything but easy. Countries, such as Germany, which for historical reasons is traditionally particularly cautious about putting pressure on Israel, but also Hungary and the Czech Republic, which are differentiated on several issues from the central line of the Union, it is considered very difficult to vote in favor.
The Bavarian “Bloc”
On the other hand, already on the first day of the announcement of the initiatives by the President of the European Commission, “turning its back on Israel cannot be an option for Germany,” said Alexander Hoffmann, leader of the Conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in the Bundestag.
“I hope that the chairman of the committee will review its position and recall its statements,” he added.
The Bavarian Conservatives, who are part of the Conservative European People’s Party (EPP) from which Ursula von der Laienne comes have the power to influence the Mertz government and thus create a divisive division within the largest European party.
If there is no agreement within the coalition “we will be automatically away”, a few days after a German government official commented on possible votes on Von der Leyen’s proposals to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers and the suspension of parties to the agreement.
So we see that adopting measures is anything but easy. In order to make it possible, Mrs von der Layen must be able to convince a number of disagreement, as is often the case in similar initiatives by the Commission. It is certain, however, that the EU needs more if it wants to claim the role it attributes to the remodeling worldwide geopolitical scene.
