Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has warned that the European Union has been “talking about measures for too long” to end Israel’s military repression in Palestine and Lebanon. He has called for a vote on those parts of the Association Agreement that simply require a “qualified majority,” such as the section on free trade, given that the suspension of the Association Agreement requires unanimity.
“Today we are going to analyze the Middle East, and I will reiterate that it is necessary for the European Union to give a response to Israel,” Albares declared in Brussels upon his arrival at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).
“The European Union’s foreign policy is based on credibility, and credibility means consistently maintaining values, principles, and objectives in any scenario,” he warned. In this context, he stated, “the Association Council between the European Union and Israel cannot continue as if nothing were happening.”
On April 21, the foreign ministers of Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland reiterated their call to their EU counterparts for the suspension of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel, arguing that Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime is violating Article 2 of the agreement, which states that “relations between the Parties, as well as all provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.” Ultimately, the ministers failed to reach an agreement on suspending the Agreement, which requires the unanimous consent of all 27 member states.
In this regard, Albares warned on Monday that “there are a number of measures that do not even require the European Union to suspend the Association Agreement, because they simply involve complying with the advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice.”
“Do very concrete things, such as prohibiting, as Spain has done, trade in products originating from the occupied territories, imposing sanctions on violent settlers, or sanctions for the illegal expansion of settlements in the West Bank, to name just a few that are simply compliance with international law,” he continued.
“I also think we’ve been talking about measures for too long: the Commission made proposals, put them on the table,” he lamented. For this reason, Albares demanded that, “for the part that simply requires a qualified majority, the trade aspect, we move to a vote and stop saying that there isn’t a qualified majority for it.”
“Let’s verify it, let’s verify how many of us agree and how many don’t,” because “it’s not enough to simply not bring the decisions to the table or to vaguely claim that there isn’t a qualified majority: the best way to verify it is to hold a vote,” he insisted.
In September 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a proposal to suspend certain provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, including the chapter on establishing a free trade area between the two parties. For her part, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, recalled before the last FAC that the suspension of the Agreement would require a unanimous position, while the suspension of the trade pillar of the agreement would only require a qualified majority.
