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EU prepares to punish Israel over Gaza attacks

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels and Alan Philps in Jerusalem

THE European Union is preparing to strip Israel of privileged trade access as a punishment for the use of "excessive force" against the Palestinians.

EU diplomats confirmed yesterday that it was now almost certain that the 15 EU foreign ministers would agree to punitive action at a key meeting on May 21, clamping down on Israel's long-standing abuse of Europe's "Rules of Origin" regime.

This means Israel will no longer be able to get away with exporting duty-free goods made at Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza as if they were Israeli products. EU sources said the Israeli ambassador in Brussels requested an urgent meeting with Chris Patten, the European external affairs commissioner, in the hope of heading off a rift.

If relations continued to deteriorate, it could ultimately lead to the suspension of the EU's Association Agreement with Israel, though there was no support yet among member states for this "nuclear option".

Last week, the EU signalled its tough new line by condemning Israel's 24-hour incursion into the Gaza Strip and its attacks on targets in Lebanon as "excessive and disproportionate".

Israel had been counting on the traditional influence of Germany and Britain to head off calls by a French-led block for punitive measures, but the government of Ariel Sharon appears to have misjudged the level of dismay in EU capitals over the Israeli military incursion into zones considered sacrosanct under the Oslo Accords.

Diplomats in Brussels say Israel's leadership has been slow to recognise the EU's transformation from a trading block to an aspiring superpower. The Amsterdam Treaty, which came into force in 1999, created an embryonic EU foreign and defence ministry under the control of a "High Representative", Javier Solana.

At the same time, Commissioner Patten is turning the EU's aid budget, the biggest in the world, into the spearhead of a foreign global policy. The Middle East is a prime target for a demonstration of growing EU influence.

Brussels is the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority, spending £110 million a year. A further £390 million is spent annually bolstering peace moves in the four neighbouring states.

In Jerusalem, Israeli officials said any punitive action by the EU would be counter-productive if the bloc really wanted to play a significant role in Middle East peace-making. It would only reinforce the perception among Israelis of bias against them.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001