European Union governments are close to finalising guidelines for the labeling of products from Israel’s settlements to pressure the country to make peace with the Palestinians.
Work on the labeling rules “is close to being finished,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters on Saturday in Luxembourg.
The EU views Israeli settlements, civilian communities on areas including the West Bank, as a breach of international law. Specific labeling of exports such as food and flowers would give shoppers the choice of whether to support the settlements or boycott them. Israel would prefer produce from those areas to continue to bear the “Made in Israel” label.
EU governments have weighed labeling rules for years. There is now a chance they will be in place by the end of 2015, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said.
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