ECONOMIC IDEAL –
TEHRAN, Sep. 17 (MNA) – EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is urging EU member states to support proposals to suspend the trade part of the EU-Israel regime Association Agreement.
The European Commission has published an option paper for the EU to reimpose duties on EU-Israel trade in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza.
In an interview with Euronews, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas confirmed the strategy to suspend trade-related provisions within the Israel-EU Association Agreement.
The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner. “We have a trade of 42.6 billion euros with Israel, in 2024. So, it is a significant amount. And when it comes to the preferential treatment, then 37% of that trade really has preferential treatments. So definitely this step will have a high cost for Israel”, Kaja Kallas confirmed.
However, it’s up to EU member states to decide if the measure can pass, and so far, several member states have continuously blocked efforts to sanction Israel due to voting requirements.
Germany, Italy, The Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria have resolutely prevented the EU from responding to Israeli breaches of international law, including breaches to Article 2 of the EU-US Association Agreement.
RHM/
