''There is no question of a boycott of Israel. This is certainly not the policy of the European Union and it will not be its policy,’’ the EU ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen told a seminar on EU-Israel trade opportunities in Tel Aviv.
‘’Boycott is something consumers and companies are engaged in but not the EU,’’ he stressed at the event organized by the Israel-European Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
‘’This is an important message to send because there has been a lot of debate in Israel about this topic,’’ he added.
He continued : ‘’I want to say that I am here to strenghten the relations between the EU and Israel. This is what I am trying to do every day. Since I came here six months ago I have been amazed by the extend and intensity of these relations spanning various areas. We want to intensify our cooperation particularly also in a moment when Israel is facing some major security challenges which we would like to minimize.’’
The ambassador, who is from Denmark, mentioned the fact that Israel has joined the EU’s latest research and innovation Horizon 2020 programme, the first non-EU country to be associated to it, and the Open Sky Agreement achievement which will fully open the market with no restrictions on the number of flights anywhere between Israel and the EU.
He also reiterated the EU’s proposal - made at a EU Council in December - of a special priviliged partnership for Israel in the context of a final status agreement with the Palestiniens.
‘’This proposal has to be taken very seriously in the spirit of a partnership in which we want to do all we can to assist Israel and to support the challenges that it faces.’’
The EU is Israel’s main trading partner. Israel exports to the EU amounted to 12.5 billion euros and imports to almost 17 billion euros.