31/07/2026
As EU foreign ministers prepare to revisit the issue again in early September, though no decision is expected at that meeting, five scholars of EU and international law have written directly to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative Kaja Kallas, and Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.
The letter challenges three central claims in the Commission’s Options Paper on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories – a paper that remains formally restricted, but whose contents have already been widely reported, including in EUobserver’s coverage, published today.
The authors argue that the paper misreads the 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion, mischaracterises the legal basis for EU action, and reaches a self-contradictory conclusion from the small volume of settlement trade. They urge the Commission to table a proposal under Article 207 TFEU without further delay.