European Commissioner for Enlargment and Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Fulle, said Tuesday’s meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council marked a renewed political dialogue between the two sides, adding however that there was “no decision” from the EU concerning the upgrade of its relations with Israel.
Speaking to EJP after attending in Brussels a meeting of the body governing EU-Israel relations along with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Fulle said that there was no consensus among the member states for such an upgrade.
“The situation prevails that we need to put an eventual upgrade of the relations with Israel in the broader context of the development in the region and of progress in the Middle peace process,” he said.
The EU took the decision in 2008 to upgrade its political and economical relations with Israel but this decision was later frozen in the wake of the 2009 Israeli operation against Hamas in Gaza. Since then, some countries within the EU have pushed for the EU to link the move to progress in the peace process with the Palestinians.
The upgrading process at the time included a summit meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister and all EU heads of government, something that has never taken place before.
It also called for Israel’s Foreign Minister to meet together with all 27 EU Foreign Ministers three times a year and for a strategic dialogue between the two sides on various issues.
Last year however, the EU-Israel Association Council, which normally meets annually, was cancelled . Although at the time, the EU insisted that the cancellation had no political meaning, it came when Israel announced new settlement construction in east Jerusalem during a visit of US Vice President Joe Biden.
“Last year we didn’t had the political dialogue and we missed a couple of important elements of our interaction at this level,” Fuelle stressed.
“But when I was on a visit to Israel in November, we agreed with Foreign Minister Lieberman that in addition of the EU playing a more active role in the Mideast peace process we needed to put back on the track the important dialogue between the EU and Israel”. “Today’s Association Council was a good occasion to do so,” he added.
“This meeting reflects the vibrant and solid partnership between EU and Israel,” said Fulle who announced that technical talks will soon begin between the two sides in order to identify sectors of cooperation.
Tuesday afternoon, the European Commissioner and Avigdor Lieberman inaugurated a photojournalism exhibition titled “stories of Israel” at the Berlaymont, the seat of the European Commission in Brussels. The exhibition of photos from several of the best news photographers aims to present the diversity of the Israeli society. It runs until March 11.
“This exhibition in the heart of Europe shows that Israel is not only the fight against terror or the peace process but also a very successful society with a lot of achievements in many fields,” Lieberman said.