EU Commission against the States against itself: chaos in Brussels over relations with the Palestinians
The unity of the European Union on the issue of the conflict between Israel and Hamas shows its fragility, indeed its total non-existence and shows how the Commission does not represent anyone but itself.
On Monday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi announced that the Commission would review €691 million in assistance to the Palestinian Authority and immediately suspend all payments. Just hours after this move, which sparked concern across the bloc, the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the Commission "will not suspend payments due", as "punishing the entire Palestinian people" would "harm EU interests in the region and would only further empower terrorists.”
It seems clear that, within the Commission itself, there is neither internal communication nor clarity of roles: who decides the EU's external relations?
Prior to this reversal, public disagreements had already emerged within the Commission over the issue of freezing assistance to the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, the meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers on Tuesday risks escalating into an internal clash, EU diplomats and officials have warned, due to differences between EU countries over the conflict.
“Israel-Palestine is one of the most divisive issues within the EU,” said an EU official who requested anonymity to speak publicly. “The intra-European divisions over this conflict are almost as old as the conflict itself.”
The most immediate dispute concerns the flow of EU financial aid to the region.
As EU foreign ministers prepared to meet on Tuesday, a growing controversy arose over the Commission's announcement to cut aid to Palestine.
Várhelyi's announcement of a funding halt coincided with the Israeli Defense Minister's order to impose a "complete blockade" on Gaza, cutting off water, food and energy supplies to more than 2 million people in the controlled territory from Hamas.
Following Várhelyi's announcement, the Commission struggled to clarify which parts of aid to Palestine would be cut. EU Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, responsible for crisis management, said that while condemning the Hamas attack, EU humanitarian aid to people in need in Palestine “will continue as long as necessary”.
Also because Hamas is not the Palestinian Authority, the one that governs in the West Bank. Even if we wanted to block the aid, it would first of all be necessary to evaluate which power is receiving this money. Among all the grass, one bundle is right in the hands of Hamas, which would automatically find itself nominated to lead the Palestinian cause. The total "Block" announced is an indication of the superficiality with which the Commission considers foreign policy: someone must have called from Washington, and in Brussels they promptly obeyed.
Divisions within the Commission – Várhelyi, a Hungarian commissioner, had previously blocked the distribution of funds due to the content of Palestinian textbooks, while Lenarčič hails from Slovenia, traditionally one of the most pro-Palestine EU countries – had predicted that the Council would completely change its position.
By late Monday, the Commission was publicly backtracking on Várhelyi's announcement, declaring in a press release to "initiate an urgent review of EU assistance to Palestine."
“The aim of this review is to ensure that no EU funding indirectly enables any terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel. The Commission will also examine whether, in light of the changed circumstances on the ground, its support programs for the Palestinian population and the Palestinian Authority need to be adjusted.
The Commission will conduct this review as soon as possible with Member States… in the meantime, as no payments were foreseen, there will be no suspension of payments.”
Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, was the first senior European official to speak out publicly, criticizing Várhelyi's announcement. “The decision is up to the member states and only on Tuesday will the foreign ministers of the 27 EU countries meet to discuss it,” Asselborn told Luxembourg media.
According to the Spanish ABC, which cited anonymous officials, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares “had a telephone conversation with the commissioner” in which he communicated, regarding the suspension of aid, “his disapproval of the decision, of which the Foreign ministers were not aware."
During a technical meeting between EU countries on Monday, several diplomats asked questions about the legal basis of Várhelyi's decision, just as Asselborn did publicly, an EU diplomat said. “Várhelyi may have been a little too anxious not to waste a good crisis,” the diplomat commented.
Even before the aid cuts to Palestine were announced, there were divisions within the EU over how the bloc should respond.
Borrell issued a statement on Sunday on behalf of the EU, condemning "in the strongest possible terms the multiple and indiscriminate attacks on Israel by Hamas."
However, several countries – including Ireland, Luxembourg and Denmark – sought a reference to de-escalation in the joint text, which was opposed by other countries, including Austria, according to three officials who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters with POLITICO . For more pro-Israel EU countries, a request for de-escalation could be seen as equalizing both sides, diplomats said.
Some diplomats also highlighted the different reactions of the EU institutions over the weekend. The Berlaymont, the headquarters of the European Commission, was lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag. The European Council building, on the other hand, was lit without displaying that flag, a sign of a more nuanced approach by member states.
Another EU diplomat said they would not have made the same choice to display the Israeli flag on the Berlaymont and said the image "surprised" them given the sensitivities at stake.
The conflicts in Israel and the Palestinian territories have long been a divisive issue for the EU, even as it supports a two-state solution, with the bloc struggling to find consensus and, therefore, forced to manage a range of opinions among the its 27 member countries. France, the Nordic states, Belgium and Ireland traditionally support a position seen by some other countries as too pro-Palestinian.
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The article EU Commission against States against itself: chaos in Brussels over relations with the Palestinians comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/commissione-ue-contro-gli-stati-contro-se-stessa-caos-a-bruxelles-sui-rapporti-coi-palestinesi/ on Tue, 10 Oct 2023 10:00:10 +0000.