- Ireland, Spain push for EU-wide trade restrictions as member states remain split over response to Israeli settlement expansion
European Union foreign ministers remain divided over proposals to impose trade restrictions on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, amid growing international concern over settler violence and Israel’s settlement expansion.
The issue was raised at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers hosted by Ireland in Wicklow on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera.
Reporting from Wicklow, Al Jazeera correspondent Peter Smith said Ireland and Spain, backed by Belgium and the Netherlands, led calls for EU-wide restrictions on imports from Israeli settlements regarded as illegal under international law.
However, Germany, Austria, Czechia and Hungary were reported to be opposed to sanctions, arguing that such measures could damage diplomatic channels with Israel.
Ireland became the first EU country to ban imports from Israeli settlements. It recognised a Palestinian state in 2024 and has continued to criticise Israel’s expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Dublin has also called for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a cooperation framework signed in 2000 that underpins trade relations between the bloc and Israel.
“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.
Irish Member of the European Parliament Lynn Boylan told Al Jazeera that Ireland was the only country to raise the issue of Israeli settlements during the foreign ministers’ discussions in Wicklow.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas did not address the prospect of trade sanctions at a news conference following the meeting.
Kallas had previously said at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in July that ministers had discussed three possible measures against settlement-related trade: an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs and an outright ban, Reuters reported.
She said at the time that an import ban had attracted the strongest support, although there was no clear majority for any of the options.
The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade in goods reaching nearly $50 billion last year, according to the figures cited by Al Jazeera. EU exports to Israel rose from nearly $30 billion to about $32 billion in 2025.
The legal and political requirements for imposing trade restrictions also remain under discussion. While some EU trade decisions can be approved by a qualified majority, major political and policy decisions can require unanimity among member states.
Several protesters demonstrated near the golf resort where the meeting was held, carrying signs including “You need to boycott Israel now” and “Sanction Israel”.