Normative Power Europe Meets Israel by Pardo Sharon;

Author:Pardo, Sharon;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The European Parliament vs.

the Commission and the EEAS

In late 2011, following a flood of parliamentary questions, the European Commission and the EEAS started considering other means, policies, and laws to stop Israeli entities and citizens who are established in the OT from benefiting from FP’s funding. The Commission and the EEAS faced four major challenges: i) a major political struggle to convince all the member states of the need for clarifying and deepening the correct and full implementation of the FP; ii) a complex political and legal basis applicable to Israeli participation in the various Unionʼs programs across sectors; iii) difficulties in clearly identifying Israeli entities and citizens who are established in the OT; iv) mixed competences, with enforcement difficulties.

Then, around September 2012 DG RTD at the European Commission was approached by a group of MEPs with a stunning ultimatum: “Either you put an end to the participation of Israeli settlement-based entities in the framework program or the EP will not approve the regulation setting up Horizon 2020.”[20] Fearful of losing the Unionʼs flagship initiative aimed at securing Europeʼs global competitiveness for what the Commission, moreover, deemed only a marginal technical issue, the Commission and the EEAS were now impelled to act without delay. Equipped with a commitment from the foreign affairs council from that May “to fully and effectively implement existing EU legislation and the bilateral arrangements applicable to [Israeli] settlement products”[21] as a possible legal and political framework, the EEAS began work on drafting the new EU guidelines.[22]

Seven months later, on December 10, 2012, the Unionʼs foreign ministers debated the developments in the MEPP and stressed that “now is the time to take bold steps towards peace.” And with the EP warning regarding the future of Horizon 2020 in mind, the foreign ministers took action. Expressing their “commitment to ensure that—in line with international law—all agreements between [the EU and Israel] must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their implacability” to the OT, the Unionʼs foreign ministers vowed “to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing [EU] legislation and bilateral agreements applicable to settlement products.”[23]

In mid-2013, following months of drafting, the EEAS presented the European Commission with a document spelling out new guidelines on the eligibility of Israeli entities and their activities in the OT for grants, prizes, and financial instruments funded by the EU.[24] On June 26, 2013, the college of commissioners approved the guidelines[25] and on June 30, 2013, the Commission adopted a notice containing the new guidelines. The notice was published in the Official Journal on July 19, 2013.[26]

The time line here is crucial because on the eve of the June 25, 2013, meeting of the college of commissioners which approved the new guidelines, the EP proudly announced that an informal deal on a package of laws to establish Horizon 2020 was finally reached by negotiators for the EP and the Irish presidency of the Council.[27] As agreed back in September 2012 by the EP and the Commission, the expected approval of the guidelines the next morning ensured that Horizon 2020 could be launched as planned in January 2014.

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