The future Commissioner for Trade, Economic Security and Transparency, Maros Sefcovic, has highlighted the review of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel during his examination before the European Parliament. Questioned by the Left group about the breaking of this pact under Article 2, which obliges the parties to comply with the requirements of international law, the Slovak politician has limited himself to saying that the “modification” of the trade agreements requires of the “unanimity” of the member states.
The request to review the association agreement with Israel was made in February by Pedro Sánchez and his Irish counterpart due to the violations of international law in the massacre in Gaza. The EU coldly welcomed this measure due to the equidistance of many capitals from Tel Aviv. Given the refusal of the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu to comply with the order of international justice to stop the operation in Rafah, the community club took a step by accepting that the Foreign Minister be summoned under that agreement, but since then the matter It is practically paralyzed because it is necessary to agree on the agenda of the meeting and it is complicated. The high representative, Josep Borrell, will force a debate on the review of that agreement in the last meeting with the foreign ministers that he will chair in November.
“When are you going to suspend the agreement?” Leftist MEP Lynn Boylan (from Ireland’s Sinn Fein) asked Sefcovic, who has assured that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza.
“The situation in Gaza is overwhelming and we are witnessing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” the Slovak politician began to respond, assuring that the EU applies the “instruments” at its disposal to “promote a ceasefire, channel humanitarian aid to reach Gaza” and convey to the Israeli authorities the “priority” of the two-state solution. We apply the instruments we have at our disposal to ensure that we promote a ceasefire, trying to channel humanitarian aid to reach Gaza. We left before the representatives of the Israeli government that our priority is the two-state solution. “As for the association agreements, they can only be modified by unanimity in the Council,” he concluded.
The response has been insufficient for the parliamentarian, who has accused the EU of acting with a “double standard” by remembering that “the same measures are not being applied against Israel” as against Russia.
“We see association agreements as instruments or platforms that allow us to have an open and frank dialogue with our partners,” responded Sefcovic, who has served four terms in the European Commission. “We take advantage of these platforms to convey our position,” he said about the case of Israel, before reiterating that it involves channeling humanitarian aid, the cessation of violence, a ceasefire and the two-state solution.
Sefcovic has also referred to the future head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, to whom the position on the matter will largely fall. What Borrell has always explained is that before reaching the review of the trade agreement, it is the member states, through the Foreign Ministers, who have to determine if there has been a violation of international law that represents a breach of the pact signed by Tel Aviv. And the EU, although it has been toughening its tone, is divided on the matter.
In the case of the “ban” on importing products from the occupied territories that Green MEP Majdouline Sbai has raised, Sefcovic has assured that “the products exported by Israel from the occupied territories do not enjoy any of the advantages of the agreements between the EU and Israel.
Regarding relations with the United States and the concern that a victory by Donald Trump would intensify the trade war, the candidate has said that that country is a “natural ally” and the EU’s main trading partner. “Without a doubt, it remains advantageous for the European Union and the United States to work together rather than against each other. Therefore, regardless of the outcome of the US elections, I will present an offer of cooperation,” he stated.
He has described China as a “complicated” partner and “the one that poses the most challenges,” which is why he has opted to “rebalance this relationship around transparency, predictability and reciprocity.” “This means being firmer in questioning structural imbalances and unfair practices in China,” among which he cited excess capacity, lack of equal conditions or problems with public contracts.
Another of the issues that MEPs have asked him about has been the agreement with Mercosur. “We are in technical level negotiations. There may be a time when the political level has to get involved and I hope that this agreement can be finalized under very fair conditions,” he defended.
Sefcovic has passed the European Parliament’s examination, which required the support of at least two-thirds of the group coordinators. The Maltese Glenn Micallef, nominated for Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture and Sports, has also done so. They have been the first to undergo the hearings in the European Parliament, which will continue this Tuesday with the candidates for portfolios such as Housing, Environment or Migration, among others.
The highlights will be next Tuesday the 12th, when the candidates for the vice presidency, including Teresa Ribera, will pass through the European Parliament. The calendar was agreed upon by the European People’s Party with all the forces of the extreme right precisely to minimize the temptations to overthrow candidates – who are mostly from its political family since it governs the vast majority of member states. The EPP thus seeks to get socialists and liberals to support its candidates, including that of the Italian far-right Giorgia Meloni, for whom Ursula von der Leyen has reserved a vice presidency, under the threat that they can overthrow candidates like Ribera or the Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné, who will also be examined in the final stretch.
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