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Midday press briefing from 12/05/2026

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Maybe it's for Thomas because it should normally be for Olof or Anouar.

It's on the proposal that we expect from the Commission to restrict trade with the Israeli settlements. Maybe Thomas is replacing. Yes, OK. Thank you.

I have questions about the fact that yesterday at the press conference, the HRVP said it wasn't up to her to draft the proposal,

it was up to the Commissioner for Trade and that he hadn't done it, so she couldn't draft it instead of him.

So I have lots of questions and I'd appreciate if maybe they could all be answered.

I understand though that maybe they can't, but.

Maybe why, Awan, why was there no proposal yesterday? Is there a delay here?

And if yes, can you explain because there was a request from member states at the last FAC and there was no proposal today, yesterday.

Can you maybe just confirm the fact that the Commission will make a proposal at some point? Is that a yes? And when will it be?

Will it be at the next FAC trade, which is on the 22nd of May, or will it be later?

If you're able to discuss any of the proposals, including their legal basis, that will be interesting because it,

it makes, it makes us understand if they have to be adopted by QMV or CFSP.

I have 1/4 question on a related topic, but not the same one.

Yesterday there was an announcement about sanctions on settlers and also Hamas members.

Can you clarify that this is the 3rd sanctions package that had been discussed under Borrell in November 2024?

Is this the same list or is it an updated list maybe from when the Commission made proposals in September 225? Thanks. Thank you.

Well, before giving the floor to to Thomas.

Because you are referring to what we will be putting forward.

At this moment,

it is also worth recalling what the Commission has already proposed and has not yet been agreed.

Starting with yesterday yesterday this was an important step.

Indeed, there was an agreement at the Foreign Affairs Council.

To sanctions on settlers in the West Bank.

This was stemming from a proposal from the Commission,

which had been there for quite some time and had not yet been agreed by the Council.

It was not the only one which was still open.

In fact, last year in September,

The Commission had also proposed to suspend the trade related provisions of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel with special urgency.

And this is not yet agreed by the Council, so before looking into further proposals,

we need to really look at what is it that has been proposed by the Commission and has not yet found an agreement.

On the other trade related aspects, I can confirm to you that we will not be able to reply today to all your questions.

I can tell you definitely that the EU implements a differentiation policy, so let's keep this in mind.

This means that goods originating from Israeli settlements in territories that came under Israeli administration since June 1967 are not entitled to benefit from any preferential tariff treatment. This is already in place.

And we will not speculate on any potential additional measure from this podium today.

I have seen online one of the other questions which would be foreign affairs indeed,

and that's why we are not taking them today.

On this particular question is because the Commission was mentioned and trade was mentioned that we're taking it up. Yes. Sorry, just a quick follow up.

You said it's quite some time the proposal had been made by the Commission on the settlers, and I had asked when exactly?

Is it late November, October 24 or is it September 25?

Are you able to give us an exact date for that proposal because it's important if it's six months or a year and a half. Thank you.

Yes, and on this I'm checking with colleagues when exactly, because in any case, it was before our time here,

so we need help with our memory in terms of when exactly did we put out this proposal.

Once I get the help from the team, I'll get back to you. Yes, please.

Mr President, it was also on the same topic.

I just wanted to be sure I had understood you, Paula.

You said before looking into further proposals, we need to look into what has been proposed, so does that mean there will be no proposal on banning or putting imports of goods from the illegal settlements because the other proposals from last September are still pending,

so you don't plan to issue any proposal in response to the Member States who have asked for this proposal? I didn't exclude or confirm that possibility.

What I said is that we need to remind ourselves and remember the framing that there are proposals which are out there and have not been agreed.

So really, this was meant in terms of the framing of the subject,

because there have been some proposals which have not yet been agreed by the Council.

For the moment,

we cannot really speculate whether there will or will not be any proposal on this particular topic. With this we complete our midday today.

Thank you for your participation and wish you a very good afternoon.

Media information
ID I-289401
Date 12/05/2026
Duration 05:44
Personalities Paula Pinho
Institution European Commission
Views 130