Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the issue of illegal settlements, we would support a ban at EU level on settlement goods entering the European Union market. What is being developed by the High Representative and the External Action Service is a set of guidelines for the labelling of settlement products, which we support. Work on that is well advanced and our intention is to work with that.

On the reference in the parliamentary question, which I do not have before me, the issue is not so much the impact from an economic and a trade point of view of the labelling of settlement goods but to send a clear message from the European Union about the illegality of the settlements and the necessity to halt settlement activity in the context of trying to get discussions going on a peace initiative.

On the issue of the arms embargo and the discussion that took place on that at the Foreign Affairs Council, all of the sanctions against Syria, which included the arms embargo, came up for renewal. That requires unanimity at the Foreign Affairs Council; foreign policy decisions at the Foreign Affairs Council are decided by unanimity. It was clear in the course of that discussion that unanimity would not be reached on the renewal of the arms embargo. There was unanimity on the renewal of all the remaining sanctions but not on the arms embargo. It was agreed that there would be a further review of the position prior to 1 August, and I expect that we will discuss that on Monday. My understanding is that as of now, no member state has supplied arms to the Syrian opposition but it is an issue that will come up for discussion on Monday.

With regard to Egypt, the point I made is that we stand for democracy. Our support for what happened in the Arab Spring and in the transition was to have democratic regimes respecting the rule of law and human rights in place across north Africa, including in Egypt. A military take-over flies in the face of that, and we must be clear in saying that. We have called for the release of all political prisoners, and that includes President Mursi, but it is more than that. It is not just about giving our view on a military take-over. There must be a transition to democracy, and that transition to democracy must be a real transition that clearly respects the rights of all citizens in Egypt, including women. Getting to that point is complicated now. The European Union has an important role to play in that regard. We also must be mindful of the economic circumstances that have given rise to the difficulties in Egypt, for example, the degree of poverty and the economic problems that country faces.

Regarding the application of human rights standards throughout the European Union, that is a condition of EU membership. There are criteria for membership of the European Union, which involve human rights standards. Incidentally, that has been the subject of discussion at the General Affairs Council.

During the course of our EU Presidency, I received a letter from four foreign ministers who sought a discussion on how the EU is dealing with the application of democratic standards in human rights issues within the EU itself. We have had much discussion in Europe about the application of economic conditions and standards, but the issues of democracy and human rights standards are also conditions of EU membership. Under my chairmanship, the General Affairs Council commenced a discussion process on that issue, which will continue into the autumn.

As regards the designation of Hezbollah, the issue arose following a bomb attack in Bulgaria which is being investigated by the Bulgarian authorities. Arising from that, one member state asked that the designation of Hezbollah would be considered by the Council. It is being discussed at COREPER level and I expect there will be a discussion on it at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.