EU urged to follow its own rules and ban trade with Israeli settlements

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Good morning. The US and Iran continued to exchange fire as Washington unsuccessfully sought to force Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices rose 4 per cent in early trading.

Today, I report on rising pressure on EU foreign ministers to take a decision to restrict imports from illegal Israeli settlements, and the EU’s justice commissioner tells our correspondent about the groundswell of support for “stronger action to protect children online”.

Complicit

The EU is breaching its own trade rules by failing to restrict imports from illegal Israeli settlements, a group of former EU trade commissioners and national politicians has warned, ahead of a meeting of bloc foreign ministers under growing pressure to act.

Context: Israel has annexed vast amounts of land in the Palestinian territories. The EU considers these annexations illegal, yet still imports goods from them. Many but not all countries support a bloc-wide ban.

After months of foot-dragging, the European Commission has proposed options to capitals, including a total or partial ban on imports from the settlements, punitive tariffs at a level that essentially make trade unfeasible, or a clunky import licensing system.

But supporters of any action expect their opponents will seek to delay any decision until the autumn, and Israel’s October 27 election. The Commission options paper even warns ministers that taking action “can have a substantive impact on the EU-Israel relationship”.

But a group of experts has argued that by taking no action, the EU is breaching its own rules.

“Following the debate by Foreign Ministers the European Commission should without further delay put forward a proposal for a well-calibrated EU ban,” states an open letter written by former trade commissioners Pascal Lamy and Cecilia Malmström, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, former German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and former Spanish foreign minister Arancha González Laya. “It is high time the EU followed its own trade rules regarding trade with Israeli settlements.”

The group argue that by not doing so, the EU is breaking its own treaties which demand that EU trade policy is consistent with international law.

They cite previous moves by Brussels to use trade measures to protect human rights or international law, including restrictions on so-called conflict minerals or products made using forced labour, and measures against countries including Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

“The same is true for banning EU trade with Israeli illegal settlements. It is no more and no less than the EU applying its own trade policy,” the letter states.

Chart du jour: Expensive divorce

Europe and the US would need to invest an extraft.com/content/ee5129dd-251f-4e61-b7c8-2a79c03d713c$23.6tn over the next 25 years to end their reliance on China in critical industries, fresh analysis suggests.

Offline kids

The EU is edging closer to limiting children’s access to social media, but there is no “single measure” that will protect kids online, justice commissioner Michael McGrath tells Laura Dubois.

Context: European countries have been debating whether to ban children from platforms such as TikTok, Snap or Instagram, arguing that tech companies are failing to protect them from the harms of social media.

The Commission has consulted a panel of experts ahead of new measures, with its findings due to be published today.

“The sands have shifted and there is a stronger level of support both in politics and among the general public for stronger action to protect children online,” McGrath told the FT in an interview.

“We have learnt a lot in recent years about the harms that are being experienced,” the Irish politician said. “There is . . . a consensus that more needs to be done, but not agreement yet as to exactly what those steps are.”

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has made protecting children online one of her flagship initiatives, after some countries like France already announced national measures.

She is due to give a statement today following the report’s publication, but the Commission won’t present more details on potential measures until after the summer break.

“It’s not going to be just one single measure. I would be pretty certain that there will be a number of measures involved,” McGrath said.

The Commission is also preparing a separate proposal to protect consumers online, for instance against spending traps, which will also target children. McGrath said this could complement other initiatives on social media.

“We will also have to step up investment in digital literacy and empowering young people themselves to protect themselves online and to understand the dangers that are online,” McGrath said.

What to watch today

1. EU foreign affairs ministers meet in Brussels. 2. Leaders from the Coalition of the Willing to support Ukraine meet in Paris.

EU foreign affairs ministers meet in Brussels.

Leaders from the Coalition of the Willing to support Ukraine meet in Paris.

Now read these

• Immobile: A UK proposal for a youth mobility scheme with the EU is a “non-starter”, as it would give small countries just a handful of visas, diplomats warn. • Kyiv shake-up: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that he will replace Ukraine’s prime minister and shake up his cabinet. • Still addicted: Europe imported more liquefied natural gas from Russia’s leading LNG project in the first half of this year than ever before.

Immobile: A UK proposal for a youth mobility scheme with the EU is a “non-starter”, as it would give small countries just a handful of visas, diplomats warn.

Kyiv shake-up: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that he will replace Ukraine’s prime minister and shake up his cabinet.

Still addicted: Europe imported more liquefied natural gas from Russia’s leading LNG project in the first half of this year than ever before.

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