Backing French peace push, EU ministers add carrots to sweeten deal
Source: Times of Israel
Foreign Affairs council offers economic incentives to jump-start Israeli-Palestinian talks; Israel slaps ‘unfortunate step’
The European Union on Monday proposed “concrete” incentives for Israelis and Palestinians to restart peace negotiations at a peace summit later this year in Paris.
During their monthly meeting in Brussels, the EU’s 28 foreign ministers tasked the European Commission and the EU’s External Action Service — its equivalent of a foreign ministry — to make a “concrete and substantial contribution” to international efforts seeking to revitalized the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process through a “global set of incentives” for both two parties.
“The EU is determined, alongside other international and regional partners, to bring a concrete and substantial contribution to a global set of incentives for the parties to make peace with a view to an international conference planned to be held before the end of the year,” the foreign ministers said in a statement.
Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council specifically mentions “economic incentives,” invoking the EU’s 2013 offer of an “unprecedented package of political, economic and security support to be offered to and developed with both parties in the context of a final status agreement.”
Both Israelis and Palestinians “need to demonstrate, through policies and actions, a genuine commitment to a peaceful solution in order to rebuild mutual trust and create conditions for direct and meaningful negotiations aiming at ending the occupation that began in 1967, and resolving all permanent status issues,” the European foreign ministers said.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/backing-french-peace-push-eu-ministers-add-carrots-to-sweeten-deal/
Note: Extra paragraph added for clarity.
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