Martin Schulz on the guidelines on the eligibility of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories for EU funding.

Da: "Service d'information du citoyen" <cites@europarl.europa.eu>
Data: 12/nov/2013 13:39
Oggetto: Your message to the European Parliament REF: GEDA A(2013) 10505
A: <luisa.costalbano@gmail.com>

Dear Ms Costalbano,

The President of the European Parliament (EP), Mr Martin Schulz, has received your message concerning the guidelines on the eligibility of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories for EU funding.

The President has asked us, the Citizens’ Enquiry Service of the EP, to reply to you.

To avoid any misunderstanding, we would first like to clarify that no formal decision on these guidelines has been taken by the European Parliament. It was the European Commission that adopted guidelines, on 30 June 2013, concerning territorial limitations applicable from 2014 onwards to the award of EU grants, prizes and financial instruments to Israeli entities and their activities in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967.

These guidelines were prepared as a follow-up to a political decision taken by the foreign ministers of the EU Member States at the EU Foreign Affairs Council of 10 December 2012. This stated that, "all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, namely the Golan Heights, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip." You can find more information about the adoption of the guidelines in the following statement by the Delegation of the European Union to Israel:

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/israel/press_corner/all_news/news/2013/20131607_02_en.htm

The European Parliament was thus not directly involved in the adoption of these guidelines. Nevertheless, it makes reference to them, and at the same time strongly condemns Israel's settlement activity in the Palestinian territories, in its resolution of 23 October 2013 on the European Neighbourhood Policy, in which the EP "welcomes the resumption of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians; stresses its commitment to a two-state solution, based on the 1967 borders, with mutually agreed land swaps and Jerusalem being the capital city of both states; expresses its disapproval and repeated condemnation of the increasing number of illegal settlements in the occupied territories, and calls on the Government of Israel to cease settlement activity and cancel all planned projects for building new settlements; recalls vehemently that the building of settlements is a tangible obstacle to the success of both the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and the viability of the two-state solution; and draws attention to the guidelines which the EU has laid down concerning the eligibility for grants, prizes and EU-funded financial instruments, from 2014 onwards, of Israeli entities established in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 and the activities they carry on there" (Article 84).

You can access the full resolution at the following link:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2013-0446+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN

During the plenary debate about this resolution on 22 October – in which Martin Schulz didn't participate himself – Irish Member of the EP Emer Costello (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats) spoke about the guidelines. A video recording of her speech, which naturally reflects her personal opinion and not necessarily that of the EP as a whole, is available at the following link:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getVod.do?mode=unit&language=EN&vodDateId=20131022-20:29:44-297

Concerning the peace process in general, President Schulz lays great hope in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed this summer. In a statement he made on 29 July, he welcomed the resumption of direct negotiations, saying: "The European Parliament will continue to support all efforts aimed at reaching an agreement on all final status issues, ending all claims, and fulfilling the legitimate aspirations of both parties with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace and security and mutual recognition." You can read his full statement at the following link:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/the-president/en/press/press_release_speeches/press_release/2013/2013-july/html/schulz-on-the-resumption-of-israeli-palestinian-peace-talks

We hope the above information will be useful and thank you for your trust in the European Parliament and its President.

Yours sincerely,

Citizens' Enquiry Service

European Parliament

Please note that the information given by the Citizens' Enquiry Service of the European Parliament is not legally binding