EU remains divided over trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee says the bloc ‘should be moving collectively’ in upholding international law.

European Union foreign ministers remain divided after talks on imposing trade sanctions against Israel amid increasing settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Ireland, the current holder of the EU council presidency, hosted an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Wicklow on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Reporting from Wicklow, Al Jazeera’s Peter Smith said Ireland and Spain, with the support of Belgium and the Netherlands, led the call for EU-wide restrictions against goods imported from illegal Israeli settlements at the meeting.

He said that Germany, Austria, Czechia and Hungary are clear that they would oppose any attempts to sanction illegal settlements, saying such a move would upset diplomatic channels with Israel.

Ireland was the first EU country to ban imported Israeli settlement goods. The country recognised a Palestinian state in ۲۰۲۴ amid Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and continues to criticise Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Ireland has also pushed for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a cooperation deal signed in ۲۰۰۰ that forms the basis for trade ties with Israel.

The EU bloc is Israel’s largest trading partner as bilateral trade of goods reached nearly $۵۰bn last year. The volume of trade has increased since ۲۰۲۳. EU exports to Israel increased from nearly $۳۰bn to about $۳۲bn in ۲۰۲۵.

“We should be moving collectively … It is not credible for us to say we should uphold international law in one form and not do it in the other,” Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee told reporters after the meeting.

“We’re hearing that at the meetings of the foreign ministers in Wicklow this week, only Ireland raised the issue of the illegal settlements,” Irish Member of the European Parliament Lynn Boylan told Al Jazeera.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas did not address the prospect of trading sanctions in a news conference after the informal meeting.

She previously commented on proposals to curb trade with illegal Israeli settlements at a previous Gymnich meeting in July and said at the time that the ministers debated three options, which included an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs or a ban, Reuters reported.

Kallas said at the time that a plan for a ban received the strongest backing at the gathering that took place in Brussels, but there was no clear majority for any single option.

There is also debate on whether the imposition of trade restrictions requires unanimity from the ministers. EU trade decisions can be passed by a simple majority vote, but major political or policy decisions require a unanimous vote.

Several protesters demonstrated near the golf resort where the meeting was held and were seen holding signs that read “You need to boycott Israel now” and “Sanction Israel”.