The line-up who will decide whether to invite Israel to join the EU market


September 13, 2012
Sarah Benton

Votes on the controversial EU-Israel agreement on Conformity Assessment

By the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament (INTA)

Next meeting
The next meeting of the Committee on International Trade [INTA] will take place on Monday 17 September 2012 (15.00-18.30) and on Tuesday 18 September (9.00-12.30 and 15.00-18.30) in the room Altiero Spinelli 1G-2, in Brussels.
See the highlights of the meeting:

INTA is set to vote on the controversial EU-Israel agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA). This is an additional Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement and concerns Pharmaceutical products. However, the approval of this protocol has been the subject of controversy, largely surrounding the state of affairs in Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the political messages that the EU would send out by signing this agreement.


Model letter to decision-makers

Dear [MEP/ Member of INTA]

The INTA committee is due to vote on the EU-Israel ACAA protocol on 18 September 2012. I am writing to ask that you vote for a suspension of the assent procedure to this protocol until Israel conforms to international humanitarian law, to international human rights laws and to its obligations, as a belligerent occupier, under the 4th Geneva conventions.

There is also the outstanding issue of the occupied territories. The ACCA protocol does not allow for legal considerations of territorial integrity and as of the present time Israel does not accept its internationally recognised borders, so any agreement with Israel would by its very nature incorporate areas that are essentially illegally occupied by the Israeli state.

According to Article 21 of the European Union, its actions on the international scene should be guided by commitment to inter alia: ‘the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms and respect for human dignity and the principles of equality and solidarity’.

The Council Conclusions in May 2012 clearly condemned Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories and stressed that they violate international law and undermine the two-state solution, to which the EU is committed.

This position was reaffirmed in the resolution passed by the European parliament in July 2012, which demanded that bilateral relations with Israel must take into account Israel’s commitment to respect international human rights and international human rights law towards the Palestinian population.

Allowing the implementation of the ACCA would be a breach of this demand; would be the first entry of Israel into the EU single market, providing Israel with commercial benefits while it continues its egregious policies, and would be seen as a contravention of stated EU policy. It would also be the thin end of a wedge and once enacted would be the template for access to the EU of other Israeli products.

Were the Council and the EU to implement the ACCA protocol, this would fly in the face of the revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy 2011 which commits the EU to relations with neighbouring countries conditional on their respect for human rights. Assenting to the protocol would send a clear message that Israel’s violations of human rights in its own territory and international and humanitarian law in the OPT is of no interest to the European Parliament and would encourage Israel in its behaviour. Thus would illegality be rewarded.

Further Article 9 of the protocol requires the EU and Israel to nominate a responsible authority to ensure conformity of the industrial products. They will also determine the territory covered by this authority. However, here the conflict between Israel and the EU is apparent. While the European Union accepts the internationally recognised boundaries of the state of Israel, Israel does not make this distinction and there are no guarantees that this protocol would be confined to the internationally recognised territory of Israel. It is therefore inconceivable that members of the INTA committee could assent to the EU-Israel protocol as at present constituted.

The decision by the EU, at its latest meeting with Israel in July 2012, to strengthen its relations with Israel by offering 60 new cooperation activities in 16 different fields, has been met with dismay. So it is therefore crucial that MEPs use the new powers received through the Lisbon Treaty to play a role in EU’s foreign policy and send a clear message to Israel that business cannot continue as usual in the context of the continued occupation of the Palestinian territory.

Yours Sincerely,


Members of the INTA committee of the European Parliament

These are the people who will vote on ACAA next week.
Key: NI: Non-Attached Members
ALD: Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
CGUL: Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left
CRG: European Conservatives and Reformists Group
EFD: Europe of freedom and democracy Group
EPP: Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats)
GEFA:Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
PAS: Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament

Vital MOREIRA, Chair
PAS, Portugal Partido Socialista

Cristiana MUSCARDINI, Vice-Chair
EPP, Italy Futuro e Libertà per l’Italia

Robert STURDY, Vice-Chair
CRG, United Kingdom Conservative Party,
Contact: 153 St Neot’s Road, Hardwick, Cambs. CB23 7QJ
Tel: 01954 211790; Fax: 01954 211786
Email: rwsturdy@btconnect.com
The Brussels office number is 0032 2284 7294

Paweł ZALEWSKI, Vice-Chair
EPP , Poland Platforma Obywatelska

Yannick JADOT, Vice-Chair
GEFA, France Europe Écologie

Laima Liucija ANDRIKIENĖ, EPP, Lithuania Tėvynės sąjunga – Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai

John ATTARD-MONTALTO, PAS, Malta Partit Laburista

Maria BADIA i CUTCHET, PAS, Spain Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya

George BECALI, NI,Romania Partidul România Mare

Nora BERRA, EPP, France Union pour un Mouvement Populaire

Daniel CASPARY. EPP, Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands

María Auxiliadora CORREA ZAMORA, EPP, Spain Partido Popular

William (The Earl of) DARTMOUTH, EFD, UK UKIP 
Contact: Home address: 31 West Street, Wilton, Salisbury, Wilts, SP2 0DL
Phone:  01722 744814, Mobile:  07720028753
Email:  wdartmouthmep@aol.com

Marielle de SARNEZ, ALD, France Mouvement Démocrate

Harlem DÉSIR, PAS, France Parti socialiste

Christofer FJELLNE, EPP, Sweden Moderata Samlingspartiet

Metin KAZAK, ALD, Bulgaria Movement for Rights and Freedoms

Franziska KELLER, GEFA, Germany Bündnis 90/Die Grünen

Bernd LANGE, PAS ,Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands

Paul MURPHY, CGUL, Ireland Socialist Party

Franck PROUST, EPP, France Union pour un Mouvement Populaire

Godelieve QUISTHOUDT-ROWOHL, EPP, Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands

Niccolò RINALDI, ALD, Italy Italia dei Valori – Lista Di Pietro

Helmut SCHOLZ, CGUL, Germany DIE LINKE.

Peter ŠŤASTNÝ, EPP, Slovakia Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana

Gianluca SUSTA, PAS, Italy

Henri WEBER, PAS, France Parti socialiste

Iuliu WINKLER, EPP, Romania Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség

SUBSTITUTES [selected]
Amelia ANDERSDOTTER, EFA, Sweden Piratpartiet

Catherine BEARDER, ALD, United Kingdom, Liberal Democrats Party,
Contact: European Parliament, Bât. Altiero Spinelli 10G246, Rue Wiertz, B-1047 Bruxelles, Belgium
catherine.bearder@europarl.europa.eu
+3222845632 (landline)

José BOVÉ, GEFA, France Europe Écologie
Jacky HÉNIN, CGUL, France Front de gauche pour changer d’Europe

Syed KAMALL, CRG, United Kingdom Conservative Party,
Contact: Tel: 020 8546 2398 / Fax: 020 3292 1601 / 3 Bridle Close, Kingston KT1 2JW
Email: syed.kamall@europarl.europa.eu / Web: www.syedkamall.com

Marine LE PEN, NI, France. Front national

Emma McCLARKIN, CRG, United Kingdom Conservative Party,
Her Contact Me form: http://emmamcclarkin.com/?page_id=11

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