Two EU-Israel subcommittees meet this week in Israel despite recent decisions by the Israeli government to suspend various contacts following the EU decision to issue guidelines for labeling products from settlements.

The EU-Israel subcommittee on agriculture ans fisheries as well as the EU-Israel on Industry, Trade and Services are meeting as part of the regular annual schedule of EU-Israel sub-commitee meetings, said a press release from the European Union Delegation to Israel.

In addition, a sub-committee on anti-Semitism is scheduled to meet next week in Brussels.

These regular meetings to discuss priorities, exchange views and reach agreement on contentious issues are part of the 2004 EU-Israel Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

Following the EU’s november 11 decision to label products from the settlements, Israel told EU ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen it was suspending its diplomatic dialogue for a number of weeks.

Foreign Ministry officials later clarified this decision pertained mostly to Palestinian and human rights related issues, but that the dialogue would continue on other topics.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister and acting Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the foreign ministry last week to suspend contact with the EU on the Middle East peace process ‘’until completion of a reassessment of the involvovement of EU bodies in everything that is connected to the diplomatic process with the Palestinians.’’

One Foreign Ministry spokesman quoted by The Jerusalem Post said that Israel had no intention of harming its own interests, and would continue to have meetings with the EU on issues not related to the diplomatic process with the Palestinians.

Last week, during a seminar in Brussels organised by the European Coalition for Israel (ECI) in the European Parliament in Brussels, a senior EU official reiterated the EU’s viewpoint that the EU’s labeling of Israeli products from the settlements was merely a ‘’technical’’ issue and not a political one.

‘’The European Commission reinterpretated the legislation on rule of origin of products at the request of several EU member states,’’ said Christian Berger, Director at the European External Affairs Service (EEAS), responsible for North Africa, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq.

But he appeared to tone down any reference to a crisis in EU-Israel relations. Despite differences between the two sides on the peace process with the Palestinians, the EU-Israel relation is one of the strongest the EU has in the region., he said.’’ ‘’We think we have a pretty good and strong relation,’’ Berger added.

He mentioned a list of successful bilateral agreements in the last years, including an aviation agreement and Israel’s participation in the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

‘’More agreements are in the pipeline on education, social affairs, police….,’’ he said.

Linking the development if future EU-relations to the peace process with the Palestinins, he mentioned that ‘’if there is a breakthrough in negotiations, sky is the limit,’’, saying the EU would offer a special partnership including political and financial cooperation.’’

An Israeli diplomat who also addressed the seminar, stressed that Israel and the EU share the same values. ‘’We do many things together and we will continue but we are sometimes frustrated to see th linkadge the EU is doing between our bilaterl relations to the peace process.

Shuly Davidovich, Deputy Ambassador of Israel to the European Union, deplored that the labeling issue was spoiling EU-Israel relations. ‘’We warned it would have consequences for our relations,’’ she said.

Middle East Quartet representatives were expected to arrive in Israel on Wednesday for diplomatic meetings but the visit has been postponed. The EU’s special envoy, Fernando Gentilini, was to be a member of that delegation.

Diplomatic sources stressed that this had to do with scheduling, rather than political issues. No new date for the delegation’s visit has been set.

This marks the second time the delegation has put off its visit. The Quartet representatives (the US, EU, Russia and United Nations) decided to send a delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Authority to look for ways to deescalate the situation and move the diplomatic process forward, after they met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

The Quartet was scheduled to arrive on October 11, but was postponed at Israel’s request because of continued violence.

The Middle East Peace Process is not on the agenda of a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers on Monday in Brussels. They will discuss counter-terrorism, Syria, Iraq and Libya, according to the official agenda.