Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the European Court of Justice judgment in a case (details supplied); if he considers that the same principle informing that decision applies to all products which are produced in the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and sold in the EU market; the steps he will take to prevent such products being sold here; if he will raise the matter at the next Council of Minister's meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16153/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have been following with interest the progress of this important case. The judgment of the European Court of Justice on 25 February confirmed the principle that goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not entitled to avail of the preferential tariff rates applying to goods from Israel. The judgement confirms existing practice, rather than introducing a new principle, and relates only to the tariff rate applying to goods originating in settlements.

As regards the broader question of preventing goods from settlements entering the EU, I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 614 on 20 April 2010, which was as follows:

"Goods produced in settlements in the West Bank are not per se illegal, but they are not entitled to benefit from the EU's preferential tariff rates. This principle has been recently confirmed in an important European Court ruling in the Brita case.

The total exclusion of goods originating in settlements, without also affecting general West Bank produce, would involve significant legal and practical complexities. This is an area of EU competence, and I do not consider that there is any realistic prospect of obtaining agreement to such a proposal at EU level."