Two weeks after the European Commission , the proposal remains stalled due to disagreements among the bloc’s members.
is among the hold-outs asking for more time to review, diplomats told DW. Without Berlin’s backing, the plan is unlikely to advance.
“Humanitarian suffering in has reached unimaginable levels, with famine unfolding before our eyes,” the EU’s executive warned on Tuesday.
In a bid to pressure to change course, it proposed barring Israeli startups from accessing part of a pot of EU research funding known as “Horizon Europe” in late July.
That marked a shift in the EU’s approach: the first time the bloc moved to back with action.
EU says Israel is ‘violating human rights’
“With its and the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe, including thousands of civilian deaths and rapidly rising numbers of spreading extreme malnutrition specifically of children, Israel is violating human rights and humanitarian law and thus is in breach of an essential principle of the EU-Israel cooperation,” the European Commission wrote in its proposal on July 28.
Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prevot had floated August 13 as a possible date for adoption if consensus was reached, but EU sources told DW there was little shift in positions at a virtual meeting of EU ministers on Monday.
That means for now, there’s no green light.
To kick in, the EU plan needs support from a so-called qualified majority of the bloc’s 27 member states, a system under which more populous countries’ views carry most weight.
Israel’s foreign ministry called Brussels’ proposal to restrict funds “regrettable,” and claimed any such punitive measures would only serve to “strengthen Hamas” — something the bloc refutes.
‘Smallest step’ proves problematic
The stall in EU action has drawn outrage from campaigners and human rights watchdogs, which have long accused the bloc of failing to use potential leverage.
“The fact that the EU cannot even agree on the smallest step is a disgrace. The bar is on the floor, and yet the EU and some EU countries are still managing to trip over it,” Oxfam’s Bushra Khalidi told DW.
The internal divisions keeping action on pause are nothing new.
Ever since the attacks on October 7, 2023, the bloc has been united in its condemnation of the militant group — classed as a terrorist organization by the EU — and in its call for the release of Israeli hostages.
But that’s where the unity ends. Every word in every statement on Europe’s ties with Israel has been fiercely debated ever since.
No deal
The schism among EU members now centers on whether and how to respond to an which found Israeli actions in — from restricting aid entry to targeting journalists — likely amount to a breach of the deal that governs EU-Israel trade and ties.
In a leaked letter seen by DW, Israel blasted the EU investigation as a “moral and methodological failure” based on biased evidence, but the bloc sticks by its findings.
Now , often seen as a fierce critic of the Israeli government, is .
Other EU members including the Netherlands and Sweden — traditionally seen as less critical of Israel — want to freeze the trade element of the deal. The move would make it more difficult and expensive for Israeli firms to export to the EU, Israel’s top trading partner.
Germany on the other hand views itself as having a historic responsibility toward Israeli security, due to its Nazi past and its systemic murder of six million Jews during the .
Though Berlin is holding out on the first EU-level measures, Chancellor Merz by Israeli forces, signalling a shift in tone.
Aid agreement falls short
The EU says its priority is get aid flowing into Gaza in the face of a deepening humanitarian crisis — and after threatening sanctions, the bloc announced what appeared to be a breakthrough last month.
“Significant steps have been agreed by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said a July 10 statement on the so-called “common understanding” — which Germany also helped broker.
But weeks on, many EU capitals say this falls far short. With proposals for action caught in institutional deadlock, EU officials continue their words of condemnation.
“I call for the immediate release of all Israeli hostages by Hamas & Islamic Jihad,” EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib said on August 3, adding that she also calls “on Israel to end its starvation of Gaza and to allow for an effective delivery of humanitarian aid at scale.”
Edited by: Carla Bleiker
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