EU-PNA-ISRAEL: A Path Forward
?
Recent
quibbles in the EU-Israeli Relationship has allowed to express strong views
about the course of the Middle East Peace Process, and to engage in dialogue
about legal venues for moving the pro-cess forward through confidence-building
on the ground, without detriment to the bilateral rela-tionship, even as a
stronger partnership is forged. There is general agreement, the political,
econo-mic and cultural links between the European Union and Israel is and must remain strong.
In addi-tion, the current impasse serves to distract attention from more
pressing issues. An EU-Israeli Task Force has recently been forged. The
question arises how best to address issues of mutual concern towards instilling
a logic of collaboration and a spirit of partnership. There is a territorial
aspect to this process of piecemeal incrementalism to ensure better management,
more contiguity.
It is
understood a multi-bilateral security, economic and humanitarian package in Jerusalem subse-quently
could further the four-pronged approach as derived from WCO-principles on
accumulated rules-of-origin. This could also serve to finesse the current EU-Israeli
argument, allowing for the export of Israeli brands as brands without labels or
produce from Israel:West
Bank; provided the egregious packaging and labelling cases in the agricultural
field can be solved to mutual satisfac-tion. Fostering business relationships
and transparency in chain of customs are complementary to a mutually reinforcing
process on both sides of the Green –line. After all, a well-managed Palestine needs to
reflect what confer a sense of security to both people and help changing mutual
perception, so as to deescalate in a manner conducive to the resumption of
negotiations. Enter the organisatio-nal set-up, interaction between the parties,
third party roles, role of educational institutions and the media as well as
joint projects.
Perhaps, a
mini action plan is called for along the following lines:
1. Europol MED Country –reports versus EU & MS Action Plans on Anti-Semitism &
Xenophobia > Task Force & Ministerial In-put.
2. A Zim (&
Mærsk) Shipping Information Information Pipe-line versus ISR-PNA Trade & Business Promotion Action
Plan.
3. Bedouin Policy Centre at Ben Gurion University
versus EU-Funded landscaping projects in the Negev ( Water & Health facilities).
4. UNESCO Regional Office in Jericho versus
UNESCO Office-cum Faith-Based Peace –Building Dialogues in the Old Town of Jerusalem >
5. Ma’an
Training Centre and Library outside Development Zone versus Aqaba Biz
School.
