THIS WEEK: MEPs weigh triggering probe into far-right ESN party, as plenary debates Gaza reconstructionThe European Parliament is in Strasbourg this week, ahead of the summer break. MEPs will be debating and voting on policies, including on air-passenger rights.
The EU´s inaction and silence during the war in Gaza landed a heavy and long-standing blow to the EU’s credibility in the Global South. But we now have both instruments and a window of opportunity to address it, writes S&D MEP Nacho Sánchez Amor.
EU commission see ‘no overriding public interest’ to release secret Gaza reports, on day UN calls out genocideOn the same day that the UN human rights office called out genocide in Gaza, the European Commission told me there was no public interest in releasing 17 documents it wants to keep secret on the enclave.
Israel has damaged at least €150m of European taxpayer-funded structures in Gaza and the West Bank, but not paid back one euro, according to an EUobserver investigation compiling data from the EU and third-party aid groups, amid Brussels’ wall of silence.
That Germany’s Holocaust guilt matters less than Palestinian and Lebanese livesThe EU Commission will bring forward a proposal on import bans against Israeli settlers, but will it be a trade measure, which doesn’t need unanimity, or sanctions, which do?
It is business as usual in EU-Israeli relations, while Italy’s call for a proposal to ban settler imports sounds like more hot air than a real change of heart.
Relatives of ‘Ulm 5’ pro-Palestinian activists tell EUobserver of degrading prison conditions, as Germany sells tanks to Israel for Gaza warfare.
EU ‘appalled’ (again) by Israel, this time over Ben-Gvir’s Gaza flotilla humiliation, but continues doing nothingBy now, the question many are asking themselves is when this endless condemnation of Israel’s actions will translate into any concrete action.
There is no shortage of tools at the EU’s disposal to put concrete pressure on Israel, but there has been a staggering deficit in political will. At a bare minimum, the EU must suspend the EU-Israel trade agreement. Two member states hold the key: Italy and Germany.
After flotilla raid, EU sticks to ambiguous warnings on Gaza aid missionsBy allowing for various possible interpretations, the EU Commission manages to sidestep any outward criticism to Israel, while defending a principled stand on humanitarian commitments.
Recent reports say that the so-called ‘yellow line’ has been pushed further into the Gaza side by the IDF, expanding Israel’s zone of control to some 60 percent of the enclave.
Germany, Greece, Romania, the Czechs, and Finland also licensed millions of euros of Israel arms exports in 2024, according to the latest EU data.
“I do not believe that breaking a trade agreement is a useful tool,” said Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Tuesday — despite Spanish and Belgian appeals.
Suspending the Association Agreement with Israel is the only tool left for the European Union. The EU remains Israel’s main trading partner – yet this leverage has rarely been used to apply pressure.
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has seemed more concerned with undoing what her predecessor Josep Borrell sought to achieve in the region, than with addressing the catastrophic consequences of allowing Israel to act with impunity.
“The ever and fast deteriorating situation calls for such action [on Israel”, a joint Franco-Swedish proposal said.
Israel has been engaged in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists ever-documented since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based non-profit.
We analysed in detail more than 50 speeches by Ursula von der Leyen that touched upon the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts. We were interested in uncovering how the political subjectivity of Ukrainians is constructed in comparison to that of Palestinians, paying particular attention to the role of gender.
A leading Palestinian human rights advocate has been refused a visa to address the European Parliament, despite both Belgium and the Netherlands being prepared to grant entry.
The EU Parliament should — at the least — hold a plenary debate on Gaza to hold Israel to account despite the Iran crisis, leftwing, Green, and liberal groups told press in Brussels on Wednesday.
European leaders have been carefully drafting cautious statements urging ‘de-escalation’ and ‘respect for international law’. But one voice has sounded different. And it speaks Spanish.
