On the eve of a vote in its plenary session in Strasbourg, the European parliament agreed Tuesday to propose the MEPs a compromise joint resolution that instead of calling on the EU to recognize a Palestinian state, links the EU ‘’support in principle’’ of such a recognition to the development of peace talks betw een Israel and the Palestinians.
The Social Democrats, the European Left and the Greens had originally put forward a resolution for a symbolic non-binding vote on Wednesday to call on the EU's 28 members to recognize Palestine statehood without conditions.
However, the center-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European parliament, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), said recognition of a Palestinian state should only form part of a negotiated agreement with Israel.
After talks on Tuesday, negotiators for the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the EPP and ALDE, which together command a large majority in parliament, agreed on a joint motion for resolution which states that ‘’the European Union supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced.’’
The motion will be submitted to the vote of the 751 parliament members on Wednesday.
The vote follows a lenghty debate in November which clearly showed a left-right split over the need to call now for recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The joint resolution also said the EU ‘’supports the efforts of President Abbas and the Palestinian national consensus government and stresses again the importance of consolidating the authority of the Palestinian consensus government and its administration in the Gaza Strip.’’ It also ‘’urges all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to accept the commitments of the PLO and end internal divisions.’’
The text reiterates the EU ‘’strong support for the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as the capital of both states, with the secure State of Israel and an independent , democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security.’’