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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2004, Official Report, column 31W, on the EU-Israel Association Agreement, what the reasons are for his decision. [192282] Mr. MacShane: The Government believe that, as a friend of Israel and the Palestinians, we can best exert influence and encourage both sides to take the steps needed for progress through close engagement. However, both sides have so far failed to meet their Roadmap obligations. We do not believe that sanctions against one of the Parties, such as suspension of the EU- Israel Association Agreement, would help bring Israel and the Palestinians nearer to a just and lasting negotiated settlement. We do not therefore intend to call for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in response to the International Court of Justice ruling of 6 July. We recognise Israeli security concerns and Israel's right to defend itself, within the law, against terrorists. We consider the building of the barrier on occupied land to be illegal, and continue to call on the Israeli Government to re-route it. On 20 July we, along with the rest of our EU partners, voted in favour of UN General Assembly resolution ES-10/15 on the legal consequences of building the barrier on occupied land.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

425 c753W; 192282

Session

2003-04

Subjects

EU external trade Terrorism Security Walls and fences Sanctions Israel Palestine Middle East Peace negotiations

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk