EU Differentiation and the Push for Israeli-Palestinian Peace: What Can Italy Do?

Hugh Lovatt will present the findings of ECFR’s new Differentiation Tracker which analyses over 260 bilateral agreements with Israel signed by the EU, the EU’s 28 member states, and Norway

Guests

Piero Fassino, Chairman of CeSPI and ECFR Council Member

Giorgio Gomel, President, Alliance for Middle East Peace Europe and member of the Board of Directors, JCall Europe

Daniela Huber, Head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Programme, IAI

Hugh Lovatt, Policy Fellow, ECFR

Marina Sereni, Deputy Foreign Minister

Chaired by

Alba Lamberti, Deputy Director, ECFR

The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and CeSPI are delighted to invite you to the closed-door seminar “EU Differentiation and the Push for Israeli-Palestinian Peace: What Can Italy Do?” 

Today the viability of a two-state solution to resolve the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict hangs by a thread. The biggest threat to its survival continues to be Israel’s illegal settlement project which erodes the territorial footprint of a future Palestinian state. Ensuring that Europe’s relations fully differentiate between Israel and its settlements in line with UN Security Council resolution 2334 offers one of the few practical means of challenging Israel’s annexation policy and defending the two-state solution. The EU has shown the potential of such an approach. Now member states must play their part.

Hugh Lovatt will present the findings of ECFR’s new Differentiation Tracker which analyses over 260 bilateral agreements with Israel signed by the EU, the EU’s 28 member states, and Norway. The project traces the efforts undertaken by European governments since the beginning of the occupation to exclude Israeli settlements and the many challenges that remain. ECFR’s findings reveal that Israeli settlements likely benefit from bilateral agreements signed by Italy, including in the domains of social security and taxation, research and development, and energy.

We will be joined by a panel of distinguished speakers including Marina Sereni, Deputy Foreign Minister; Piero Fassino, Chairman of CeSPI and ECFR Council Member; Giorgio Gomel, President, Alliance for Middle East Peace Europe and member of the Board of Directors, JCall Europe; Daniela Huber, Head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Programme, IAI. (agenda below)

These are some of the topics we will address in a lively discussion moderated by Alba Lamberti, Deputy Director at ECFR. The discussion will take place in English, under Chatham House rule. Please find below the agenda of the seminar. To confirm: [email protected]

 

CLOSED DOOR SEMINAR (Chatham House, working language: English)

22 November 2019

09:15-12:15

Piazza Venezia 11 – 00187 Roma

9:15-9:30 Welcome Coffee

9:30- 9:45 Opening remarks by Alba Lamberti (ECFR) and Piero Fassino (Cespi)

9:45-10:15 Key note speech by Marina Sereni, Deputy Foreign Minister

10:15-10:45 Hugh Lovatt, Policy Fellows, ECFR presenting the ECFR Differentiation Tracker

10:45-11:30 reactions by:

Daniela Huber, Head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Programme, IAI

Giorgio Gomel, President, Alliance for Middle East Peace Europe and member of the Board of Directors, JCall Europe

11:30-12:15 Open discussion

12:15 closure