Ireland must surrender some of its foreign policy powers to Europe so that the bloc can sanction Israel, a Fine Gael MEP has said.
Speaking on Thursday, Seán Kelly said that the bloc had failed so far to level sanctions on Israel due to a requirement that any foreign policy decision in the European Council be made unanimously, with every EU country holding a veto in the body.
“Over the last five years in particular, Viktor Orbán of Hungary abused this veto, holding up aid to Ukraine and sanctions on Russia to gain concessions on completely unrelated things,” he claimed.
Kelly argued that this ability for member-state leaders to block foreign policy decisions should be abolished, and that Ireland and all other countries should abandon their council vetoes on multiple foreign policy issues.
He emphasised this change would allow Ireland to achieve its goal of sanctioning Israel.
“Israel has shown they are happy to ignore even the strongest words of condemnation,” he said.
“The best tool we have to apply pressure is the suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement.”
“Ireland will hold the presidency of the European Council in the second half of this year, and exploring a move away from unanimity is the single most impactful thing we could add to the agenda right now,” he added.
Both Ireland and Socialist-run Spain have been at the forefront of an ongoing EU push to sanction Israel, with senior leadership from both countries demanding the bloc provide more support for the disputed state of Palestine.
This has been met with a lukewarm reception in Brussels, with Germany in particular being hesitant to take any actions against the Benjamin Netanyahu government.
Ireland’s policy on the matter has alienated Fine Gael from many of its counterparts in Brussels, with the majority of its European People’s Party partners — including Ursula von der Leyen’s German Christian Democratic Union — advocating for a much softer approach regarding Israel.