The Irish government is reconsidering banning trade in goods and services produced by Israelis in East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”).
A Bill to this effect was introduced into the Irish Parliament by Senator Frances Black in 2018. As UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) pointed out at the time, the Bill was illegal since the EU has exclusive competence over foreign trade policy of its Member States. The Irish Attorney-General and the EU Commission agreed, and successive Irish governments prevented the Irish Parliament adopting the Bill.
The current Irish government has sought fresh advice from the Irish Attorney General following the non-binding Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding Israel’s Policies and Practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip delivered on 19 July 2024.
The Attorney General briefed Irish government coalition leaders on 14 October 2024 and intends to present formal advice to the Irish Cabinet next week.
Ireland Israel Alliance has circulated comments by UKLFI (together with its earlier analysis) on the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion and Opinions by Professor Takis Tridimas obtained by supporters of the Frances Black Bill.
According to UKLFI, the fundamental point remains the same: the EU has exclusive competence for foreign trade policy. It is for the EU to decide whether changes should be made to the foreign trade policy in the light of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion, and not for Ireland to take unilateral steps that compromise the uniformity of the foreign trade policy and create barriers to trade in the EU’s internal market.
In any case UKLFI points out that the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion should not lead to any changes in the EU’s existing foreign trade policy
- The ICJ’s majority Opinion is not binding and its authority is compromised by the absence of any submissions supporting Israel’s position and its reliance on inaccurate, one-sided and incomplete information.
- In any case, the Opinion is essentially limited to advice on the obligations of the UN and UN Member States with regard to the State of Israel and does not, in general, address their obligations with regard to private parties
- It is a fundamental mistake to suppose that the State of Israel produces goods or services in East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria that are imported into Ireland. Use of the shorthand “settlement goods” and “settlement services” should not obscure the fact that these goods and services are primarily produced by private businesses in the vicinity of Israeli communities in these areas
- Banning goods and services produced by Israelis in the West Bank would be inconsistent with the recent judgment of the EU Court of Justice in Case C-399/22 Conféderation paysanne which held that France is not entitled to prevent the import of agricultural products from Moroccan occupied Western Sahara, but must require them to be labelled as products of Western Sahara.
UKLFI’s earlier analysis of the Frances Black Bill
Opinions of Professor Tridimas