The "Israeli colony" labeling, a measure of limited scope

No more ambiguity possible. Foodstuffs from the territories occupied by Israel will now have to mention them on their labels. The European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled Tuesday, November 12, in favor of this legislation, arousing the anger of the Jewish state denouncing a "political decision." These more precise labels will have to be put in place in the 28 member countries of the European Union, in order to "enlighten" the potential buyer, specifies the judgment of the Court.

This claim is not new. Already in 2016, Bercy had forced the differentiated labeling of products from territories occupied by Israel since 1967 (the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights), applying the European regulation on consumer information. Indeed, a year earlier, the Commission had suggested that commodities from Israeli settlements should include "complementary geographic information".

Fruits, vegetables, wines and meat concerned

Contesting the decision of the French Ministry of Economy, a settler colonist settled in the West Bank and the European Jewish Organization had seized the French Council of State, which itself had turned to the CJEU to rule.

The Court has therefore finally given the green light on Tuesday, this new labeling that "although theoretically mandatory was so far little applied," notes François Dubuisson, Professor of International Law at the Free University of Brussels and author of a study on economic relations between the EU and Israeli settlements in France 24.

"We now have an official, authentic and unquestionable interpretation on the part of European justice". This mandatory labeling will concern both fresh fruits and vegetables, wine, olive oil, eggs, poultry, honey and cosmetics.

Ethical choices

For the Court, it is especially a question of no longer "misleading" European consumers. "A bottle of wine produced for example in a settlement in the West Bank will not always be labeled as such, which is misleading for the buyer who wants to make ethical choices based on respect for international law," says the academic.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which welcomed Tuesday's decision, called on "all European countries to implement this legal and political obligation". Finally, the BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions), for its part, asked states to go further by "prohibiting any trade with the colonies."

The EU's top court has obligated the EU to label products from Israel's illegal settlements to prevent its population transfer crime against Palestinians. Europe to end hypocrisy and economic relations with settlements. pic.twitter.com/qwhSxFlDck

A "deeply flawed" policy for Israel

Unsurprisingly, Israel "strongly rejected" the Court's ruling, fearing that it would harm its exports as well as its image. "I intend to work with the European Foreign Ministers to prevent the implementation of this deeply flawed policy," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.

Fearing controversy, the European Commission recalled that the EU did not support "any form of boycott or sanctions against Israel". Yet, in fact, "the authorities and the Israeli public see it as a very unfair measure," says Ofer Zalzberg, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, the World. "This decision deteriorates the vision that the Israelis have of Europe".

In economic terms, however, the impact of such a measure would be put into perspective for the Jewish state, said François Dubuisson. " There is a somewhat hypocritical game between the European Union and Israel, and with this decision the EU wants to show that it is still doing something about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. the corollary of the already very privileged economic links between Israel and the EU.Many exchanges will continue without suffering from this measure ", nuance the professor.

A reflection towards other occupied territories?

Difficult to evaluate the total value of exports from settlements to the EU. Notably because the Israeli customs would report very little the origin of the goods, says the academic. In 2015, however, the Israeli Ministry of the Economy estimated that these exports represented between 200 and 300 million US dollars per year. Figures that would be well below the reality, says François Buisson. "A massive fraud is organized around these exports. Often, one finds on the product only an administrative postal address located in Israel ".

Thus, the measure of the European Court is more symbolic than penalizing for the Israeli economy. Finally, the general scope of such a decision that exceeds the case of Israel, judge the academic. "This mandatory labeling should push states to comply with the law, but also to broaden their reflection on other situations of occupation. One could for example be interested in the case of Western Sahara, a territory disputed by Morocco and the Polisario Front ".