EU states renew call to label Israeli settler goods

Sixteen EU states have said products made by Israeli settlers should be marked in shops so that European consumers can decide whether to boycott them.

The group - which includes France, Italy, Spain, and the UK - made the appeal in a letter to EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini i on Monday (13 April).

They said “EU-wide guideline on the labelling of settlement produce/products … is an important step in the full implementation of EU longstanding policy in relation to the preservation of the two-state solution”.

They noted that “expansion of Israeli illegal settlements … threatens the prospect of just and final peace agreement”.

They add EU consumers have a right to “not being misled by false information” and “confidence in knowing the origin of goods they are purchasing”.

They also the retail code should in the form of binding “legislation” and that it “benefit” Palestinian exporters.

The initiative was co-ordinated by Belgium, whose foreign minister also signed the paper. The other signatories are Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Slovenia.

An EU source said the letter is likely to be discussed in the margins of Monday’s foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

He added that the retail code, which is being put together by the European Commission on the basis of existing consumer and trade legislation, isn’t ready yet.

“This letter comes after a similar one written to Mogherini’s predecessor [Catherine Ashton i]. It’s just to check where we are with this and to make sure it stays on the agenda”.

The letter to Ashton, in April 2013, had 13 signatories, however.

For its part, Israel claims the settlements are legal and that their expansion isn’t to blame for lack of peace. It also says EU interventions make Palestinians less willing to negotiate and stem from deep-rooted anti-Semitism in Europe.

The EU is currently waiting for the US, Israel’s main security sponsor, to decide whether to try to relaunch the Middle East peace process before the end of president Barack Obama i’s second term.

But sources in Washington told this website the personal relations between Obama and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu i are so bad that prospects of a new US initiative are low.