Vilnius, November 12, BNS–The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the country won’t participate in several planned meetings with EU officials after the European Commission announced Wednesday a decision to label products imported from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. The ministry announced Israel had suspended dialogue with the EU at several venues where meetings had been scheduled for the coming weeks in response to the EU decision. Israel earlier strongly condemned the EU measure as politically motivated, but the suspension of talks represents the first concrete step taken in response to product labeling.

The European Union reported earlier the decision to adopt special labeling rules for products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories was made for legal reasons regarding product country of origin requirements. “This is a technical issue, not a political position,” European Commission deputy chairman Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters earlier, when the highest executive body of the EU initially approved the labeling scheme. “The EU does not support any boycott of or sanctions against Israel,” he said then, adding the new measures were connected with consumer policy in the Union. “The Commission is presenting recommendations to EU members and economic operators in order to ensure the uniform application of labeling rules for products from the Israeli settlements,” Dombrovskis said. He said the EU decision “is not a new legal act or a new policy” and that it elucidated certain issues connected with the interpretation and effective implementation of existing EU laws.

BNS