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Torsdagen den 8 februari 2024 - Strasbourg

12.2. Associeringsavtal för tredjeländers deltagande i unionsprogram (B9-0096/2024)

Declarações de voto orais

  Mick Wallace (The Left). – Mr President, concerning the association agreements for the participation of third countries in Union programmes, we understood that there were rules and regulations around association agreements. The European Union has an association agreement with Israel, and every rule that you can conceive of has been broken. We have totally ignored our own rules.

Israel is committing a genocide in Palestine; Israel has been persecuting the Palestinian people for 75 years, and we have no problem maintaining the association agreement with them. I’d like someone in the Commission to explain that to me, because I just don’t understand it. What does Israel – this apartheid, far—right regime – have to do before we break the association agreement with them? How low do they have to get? 30 000 civilians are dead, 11 000 of them are children, and we have not even contemplated the idea of breaking the association agreement. I don’t understand this.

  Clare Daly (The Left). – Mr President, this oral question calls for the Commission to legislate to allow democratic scrutiny by the Parliament of the implementation of association agreements like Horizon Europe and I think the timing could not be better.

Why, for example, is Israel part of Horizon Europe? Why does Israel get 22.73 % of grants under that programme? Why did European taxpayers’ money go to fund them in the development of Pegasus spyware that was used to target European journalists and politicians? And why is the EU-Israel Association Agreement still standing in the face of Israel’s genocide? Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe are asking for that agreement to be suspended. Even lukewarm supporters of Palestine in here get it.

I abstained on this vote because while scrutiny would be an improvement in the situation, we need a lot more power than that. We need to break agreements when human rights are violated. We need to suspend this agreement now.