konference European Friends of Israel, Paříž dne 7.11.2008
EFI POLICY CONFERENCE
Perspectives of an EU-Israel upgrade: The time is now
Remarks by A. Vondra, Deputy Prime Minister for EU Affairs of the Czech Republic
7. November 2008
Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me start with a Jewish anecdote. Mr.Kohn and Mr.Abeles are praying in the synagogue. Mr.Kohn is asking: “My Lord, I desperately need 500.000 dollars to buy myself a rolls-royce.” Next to him Mr. Abeles is praying: “My Lord, please give me 10 dollars to buy a book. I´ll sell it for profit, buy more, start a bookshop, get rich and buy myself a rolls-royce.” Abeles hears him, he opens his wallet and irritated he says: “Kohn, here, have your 10 dollars and stop diverting Lord´s attention from important things!”.
Sometimes, I am afraid that, vis-a-vis Israel, EU might be thinking more like Abeles rather than like Kohn. There are several reasons, why we should act as strategists, rather than dreamers. There are several reasons why the relationship between EU and Israel should be significantly upgraded:
1) The credibility of the EU and its common foreign and defense policy requires that it delivers on its declarations and statements of intent. The Essen Declaration of 1994, in which the EU recognized that Israel „should enjoy special status in its relations with the EU“, as well as the conclusions of the EU-Israel Association Council of last June 16, envisage that such an upgrade takes place.
2) The argument for a closer economic cooperation is overwhelming. Today, the EU is Israel´s largest trading partner. And Israel is the most important trading partner of the EU within the framework of the Barcelona process. Israel, on its own part, is a significant source of economic innovation and state-of the art technology in areas ranging from software through pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies to solar energy utilization. To choose a random example, the Israeli electric car project developed together with a French automaker, could have far-reaching impact on the European economy in the increasingly energy-starved world of today.
3) The strong historical and cultural bond between EU and Israel is often invoked, as are the shared values of freedom, democracy, and open society. Yet there is so far little structural and institutional reflection of these facts in the EU-Israel relationship. True, the EU and Israel are about to complete quite successfully the very first Action Plan within the concept of the European Neighborhood Policy. But in view of the deep bond mentioned above, we should candidly acknowledge that our relationship goes beyond being just neighbors.
4) We need an upgrade of the relationship, from bottom up to the very top. Not just to symbolize its special quality but to be able to conduct an open and fruitful dialogue on ideas that we share but also on issues where we may differ: Be it at the summit level or at the level of a subcommittee for human rights. By avoiding such encounters for the fear of running into disagreements or for the fear of displeasing third parties we are not doing a favor to ourselves or to anyone else.
If our Israeli friends want to discuss the dangers of the reemergence of xenophobia and anti-Semitism in Europe, what better place to do it than in a joint body dedicated to the discussion of human rights?
And if we in the EU want to express our serious concern about some of the unmet goals of the Road Map, such as the issue of the outposts and settlement expansion, what better place to do it than at a political summit?
We will not resolve any of these issues by issuing statements or sending each other demarches but by sitting down together and talking. Our European ambition to play a more active role in the Middle East Peace process will be enhanced not diminished, by engaging our Israeli interlocutors at an elevated level. Moreover, such an upgrade would in all likelihood not detract from our relationship with the PA and other countries in the region, but make them all the more eager for an equally close relationship with us.
5) The world today is facing many diverse risks and dangers, political, military, economic and environmental. Many of these risks manifest themselves in the close neighborhood of the traditional centers of stability in Europe and North America. It is thus in our interest to anchor as much as we can of our neighborhood in our institutions and policies, just as it is in the interests of countries in our neighborhood to share in the relative stability of our institutions and policies, which represent the work of several generations. This applies to our South-East, just as it applies to our South and East.
6) Being a multinational entity, our natural tendency is to seek to enhance stability in our neighborhood through multilateral institutions and/or initiatives, such as the Barcelona Process: Mediterranean Union. For all that, we need to be able to deal with important singularities in our environment and to design adequate formats for them. Russia is, admittedly, one such singularity. Turkey, a candidate country of the EU, or Ukraine, for different reasons, is another. I would submit that Israel also falls within this category.
As the incoming Czech presidency of the EU Council, we have included the upgrade of the EU-Israel relationship among the dossiers to attend to. Although there is probably no such thing as the „right time“ in the roller-coaster environment of the Middle East, there are a number of factors pointing to a window of opportunity.
– In terms of violence, for all the incidents to point to and criticize on both sides, this has been the quietest year in a long time.
– In terms of the regional environment, Israel is increasingly becoming a part of the regional discourse, thanks to a large degree to the Annapolis process, the semi-opening of the Israel-Syrian track and the warming up of several leading Israeli politicians to the Saudi peace plan, as well as to European initiatives, namely the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean.
– And while we have no wish to interfere with Israel´s domestic politics before the parliamentary elections next February, it would appear logical if Europe showed a friendly face to a government, which is clearly supportive of, and instrumental in all these initiatives.
Our approach is realistic and pragmatic. We have no wish to get bogged down in what our ambassador to Tel Aviv calls „the theology of the Middle East peace process“, as much as we support its goals. All the more, we wish to see some practical progress and real changes on the ground.
We believe it is realistic to expect to see a real improvement in removing the obstacles to free movement of Palestinian people and goods, including an unhindered increase of Palestinian exports to Europe.
We believe it is realistic to expect an open dialogue between the EU and Israel on human right issues, including the establishment of a human rights subcommittee within our political dialogue.
We believe it is realistic to expect, during our presidency, a new framework document governing the relationship between EU and Israel at an elevated level.
A summit toward the end of the Presidency would then be a logical opportunity to summarize these achievements.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me conclude: Israel is the Test of the West. Here is the substance of the test: for Europe to confirm its value basis and to secure its neighborhood, for Israel to broaden and safeguard its economic and political background. Let´s hope we will stand the test. The Czech EU Presidency will do its best for that.