As part of its European Neighborhood policy, the European Union (EU) signed a cooperation agreement with Israel last week. Similar agreements were signed with the Palestinian Authority and with Moldavia, Ukraine, Morocco, Tunisia, and Jordan, but the agreement with Israel is considered more advanced and wider in scope, chiefly a consequence of Israel's economy is being more developed.
The agreement relates to most areas of government policy, from defense to culture. For the most part, it does not stipulate particular action to be taken, but rather indicates directions for cooperation. This is chiefly a question of development of existing understandings in Israel's Association Agreement with the EU, although there are some areas in which there is a considerable deepening of cooperation and of mutual obligations.
Jerusalem can boast of important achievements in the new agreement. First and foremost, Israel has gained stronger economic ties with the EU, and easier and more direct access to Europe for Israeli companies, researchers, and students. The European Bank for Reconstruction will finance infrastructure development in Israel, and the Israeli government and Israeli industry will be full partners in the European Galileo satellite project. Europe undertakes to fight anti-Semitism, and to endeavor to diminish the number of anti-Israel resolutions in international organizations, to liaise with Israeli over the war on terrorism (chiefly in dealing with the financing of terrorist networks), and in the fight against organized crime and trade in women.
However, there are no free lunches in Europe. Europe suffers from military weakness. It therefore makes calculated use of its economic power to promote its security and national interests. The aim of the European Neighborhood policy is to deepen mutual dependence, in both the political and economic spheres, between Europe and its neighbors, and the connection between economics and politics is striking and deliberate. So, for example, the threats to freeze economic cooperation with Turkey led to abolition of the death penalty and to far-reaching constitutional changes in that country. Israel is required to make a difficult political concession over the marking of the origin of products made on the other side of the Green Line.
In the context of the current agreement, the Europeans stress two main achievements: Israel's undertaking to take account of the vital need for a future Palestinian state, and Israel's consent to enter into an agreement for the prevention of the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The EU points out that this is the first time Israel has made such commitments in writing in an international agreement. The agreement also highlights Europe's role in promoting the Middle East peace process, a very important matter for the prestige of the politicians in Brussels.
Two areas in which the agreement is less than satisfactory from Israel's point of view are research and development policy and welfare policy.
The cuts in Israel's R&D budget, coupled with the fact that its outlay in the next EU Framework R&D Programme is due to double, raises a real fear that Israel will not be able to take part in future European R&D programmes.
Another matter of very high importance to Israeli society not treated with sufficient thoroughness is partnership in the liaison and cooperation mechanisms relating to the welfare state and the war on poverty. The countries of Europe have rich experience in devising fair welfare policy, and Israel should hasten to join the liaison and reciprocal study processes in this area. The current agreement provides an opening in this respect, and the Israeli government should exploit it.
There agreement contains few sections that oblige the parties to take concrete steps. Implementation of the obligations in the agreement mainly depends on three factors: the degree of commitment to common values; common interests; and the ability to carry out the decisions made. This means that difficult conditions attach to the benefits that could be derived from the agreements. Despite the clear gains Israel could make from cooperation, it seems that the political system and public opinion in Israel tend rather to favor moving away from Europe. Deterioration in relations with Europe is risky for the Israeli economy and for Israeli society. The process is liable to cut us off from one of our most important allies. In this context, implementation of the framework agreement signed last week could change the negative trend in relations between Europe (particularly France) and Israel.
Eli Lifschitz is an intern at the European Commission Directorate-General for Research. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect EU policy.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 19, 2004