Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

I thank the witnesses for coming in. In his 2018 opinion, Professor Tridimas concluded that a ban on trade with the settlements is compliant with EU law. He specifically stated that the concept of public policy must be interpreted as taking into account the objectives of the Geneva Convention and customary international law which allow member states some discretion in deciding the steps they consider appropriate to take in order to fulfil those obligations. Given that the material provided to us is fairly technical for non-lawyers, I ask him to confirm that a ban of this nature would be justified on the grounds of public policy and that there are further justifications under Article 347 of the treaty.