The Israeli European Policy Network The Monitor of the EU-Israel Action Plan Roby Nathanson Stephan Stetter Editors Ben Gurion University Institute for The Israeli Institute for of the Negev World Society Studies Economic & Social Research University of Bielefeld Tel Aviv - Vienna, June 2006 The Israeli European Policy Network The Monitor of the EU-Israel Action Plan 1 The Israeli European Policy Network The Monitor of the EU-Israel Action Plan Roby Nathanson Stephan Stetter Editors Tel Aviv, June 2006 2 Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Israel Office POB 12235, Herzliya, Israel 46733 © 2006, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Israel office All rights reserved Printed in Israel Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Israel Office POB 12235, Herzliya, Israel 46733 Tel. +972-9-9514760 Fax. +972-9-9514764 Disclaimer: The authors are solely responsible for the contents of the articles, which do not reflect the opinions of either the editors or the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. 3 Contents Page Preface Hermann Bünz Introduction Roby Nathanson & Stephan Stetter Chapter 1: On Economics and R&D Summary and Recommendations Israel: Financial Services in the Context of Participation in the European Single Market Dennis Tunda Israeli-European Cooperation under the Galileo Programme: The Sky is (Not) the Limit Nellie Munin Promoting EU-Israel Trade Integration: The Bilateral and Regional Dimensions Gonzalo Escribano Chapter 2: On Industrial and Environmental Cooperation Summary and Recommendations Prospects for Regional Cooperation in the Energy Sector in the East Mediterranean Rim: Development of Solar Energy Schemes and Power Interconnections Amit Mor & Shimon Seroussi On Industrial Cooperation between the European Union and Israel Moshe Dovrat Chapter 3: On Constitutional and Justice Affairs Summary and Recommendations The European Neighbourhood Policy and Israel: Choosing the Judicial Forum in the Light of the European Constitution Lior H. Zemer & Sharon Pardo 4 Page EU-Israel Security, Justice and Home Affairs Cooperation: One Year into the Action Plan Shlomo Shpiro Chapter 4: On Social Policy Summary and Recommendation Integration of the European and Israeli Labour Markets: Social Policies Issues Yehudith Kahn Chapter 5: On Political Relations and Civil Society Related Issues Summary and Recommendations Israel and the EU: An Enhanced Political Cooperation? An Assessment of the Bilateral ENP Action Plan Raffaella A. Del Sarto Combating Anti-Semitism: Monitoring the EU-Israel Action Plan Yonatan Touval The Madrid Quartet: An Effective Instrument of Multilateralism? Constanza Musu With a Stroke of a Pen: Israel’s Image in the European Media Katharina von Münster Annex I: Proposed EU-Israel Action Plan Annex II: Authors’ Biographies 5 Preface In recent years, relations between Israel and the European Union have become more rather than less intensive. In addition to the US superpower, the EU remains a major partner on whom Israel can count – something that is particularly true in the areas of economic, research and technological policy. Israel’s ties with the EU on various social policy levels are undergoing steady, tangible growth. Due to a number of factors, this significant state of affairs does not enjoy commensurate attention from the different publics. On the one hand, neither the Europeans in the EU nor the Israelis are aware of these ties, which have never been stronger, because they can easily be overshadowed by Israel’s dazzling relations with the US. On the other hand, European-Israeli ties are also eclipsed by current events in the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. However, for some time people in key positions in the political and economic spheres in Israel and the EU have been making every effort to underscore the real status and weight of bilateral and multilateral ties alike, and to make their publics aware of their specific positive aspects. It must be made clear, though, that this does not involve any possible future European Union membership for Israel. Such a development is not on the books for the moment, nor will it be up for serious discussion in the foreseeable future. What appears to be far more urgent as well as of greater importance to political ties is to provide a more appropriate political framework for these ever-closer relationships. Basically, experience with the Barcelona Process has taught us that insisting on always observing the principle of treating all participating countries equally is not without its drawbacks. In this context, the political development of the countries in the Middle East/North African region does not yet appear to have reached the stage of democratisation and economic stability. In addition, the EU’s interests are quite clearly far too heterogeneous. 6 However, so that the 25-strong EU, following the major and somewhat indigestible challenge of expanding eastward, can work out a new and beneficial relationship with its remaining neighbours, the EU has produced its new European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as a concept that can be used as a basis for political action. In the ENP, greater attention is focused on the specific characteristic of each neighbouring state, giving every country from Morocco to the Ukraine the chance to define its ties with the EU. As regards content, the working instrument, known as the Action Plan, is due to be developed by the end of 2007 in order to act as the basis for a long-term bilateral neighbourhood agreement. In Israel, most politically relevant circles in the fields of government, the economy and society have acknowledged the prospects of the Action Plan. This has facilitated the early start of cooperation on devising content. In this context, after three years of successful cooperation in Israel and the EU and in the wake of its successful reader on Israel and the EU, which received a large-scale, positive response, the Israeli European Policy Network (IEPN) decided to issue another publication in the hope of generating public debate both locally and in the EU. This time, however, it is more than simply a “reader”, which is based on specialized knowledge and provides recommendations, drawing attention to a number of decisive or outstanding developments in Israel’s relations with the EU and vice versa. The concern of the editors, authors and backers of the present publication is to offer a critical analysis of problematic areas that are to be found on both the European and the Israeli sides, with the goal of providing critical monitoring which can make sure that shortcomings or failings will be discussed again before it is too late, and that change for the better can be brought about. Hence rather than a “reader”, this time we are above all offering a “monitor”. The IEPN’s entire team has worked on this project for almost twelve months. Under the successful tried-and-tested leadership of the editorial team involving Dr. Roby Nathanson 7 (Israel) and Dr. Stephan Stetter (European Union), a publication is now offered which can make the concept of a network, if taken seriously, the key concept for successful political consultation. From the very beginnings of this network-based effort by the IEPN, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) has not only helped to develop and provided material support for the approach but also tried to encourage public debate of its results. Other FES offices in both Europe and North Africa have provided specific support for the project – support which has and will continue to make it possible to come up with a down-to-earth expression of thinking about a politically and economically productive and above all peaceful neighbourhood as well as to provide the requisite constructive political groundwork. On behalf of the FES, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation in particular to the editors and all the authors as well as to the large numbers of outstanding helpful people who made this publication possible for all their unflagging efforts. The present result has made all the hard work worthwhile. It encourages us to continue along these lines for it shows the very clear need for close “monitoring” as we proceed along the path of improving ties between the EU and Israel. Hermann Bünz Representative of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Israel Herzliya, June 2006 8 Introduction Roby Nathanson and Stephan Stetter With completion of the Action Plan (AP) in December 2004, relations between the European Union (EU) and Israel entered new waters. Some would argue that through the AP, which is part of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) toward non-member countries situated along the EU’s Eastern and Southern borders, the promise of the Essen European Council Declaration of 1994 to establish a ‘special status’ between the sides had at last acquired a concrete, substantive outlook. Thus, through construction of possibilities for Israel to hold a ‘stake in the single market’ and to upgrade its political, socio-economic and security bonds with the EU within the broad range of issue-areas in which ‘further integration into European…structures’ is sought, the AP indeed has overcome some of the impasses which so often haunted EU-Israeli relations. Yet, while the AP is a more systematic and comprehensive framework for bilateral relations than any previous agreement signed between the EU and Israel, expectations of what the AP can in fact deliver should remain grounded in reality. The AP itself states explicitly that the move from objectives to implementation depends ‘on the degree of commitment’ exhibited by both sides in speeding up the ‘pace of progress’ in bilateral relations. Thus, while the AP sketches parameters for closer integration of Israel with the EU, concrete policies on economic, political and societal issues remain subject to the political will of both sides regarding use of the integration potential offered by the AP. It therefore remains to be seen to what extent the AP can render EU-Israeli relations free of the manifold sources of tension that have previously affected this relationship.