Melike Pala
07 July 2026•Update: 07 July 2026
The European Commission will present this week an options paper outlining possible trade measures targeting products originating from illegal Israeli settlements ahead of next week's meeting of EU trade ministers, a spokesperson said Monday.
“As the (commission's) president (Ursula von der Leyen) said, we will present this option paper before the FAC Trade taking place next week, so we will present it indeed this week,” EU Commission spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters during the midday press briefing.
Gill was responding to a question on when the EU Commission would publish the options paper, following European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement Friday that the executive would prepare a range of possible trade measures concerning products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The paper is expected to be discussed by EU member states at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, scheduled to take place on July 10.
The initiative follows requests from the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and several member states to examine possible measures concerning goods produced in Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
About 500,000 illegal Israeli occupiers live in settlements across the occupied West Bank, while another 250,000 live in settlements built on Palestinian land in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Peace Now, an Israeli organization that promotes a two-state solution to the conflict.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and urged the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The 27-member bloc has so far not imposed measures directly targeting Israel, which has continued its genocidal war in Gaza since October 2023 despite a ceasefire, while also carrying out attacks on Lebanon, Iran and Syria.
