Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the recent discussions that have been held at the Foreign Affairs Council in relation to the Israeli-Palestine conflict; if this conflict will be the subject of discussion at the forthcoming Council meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36071/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Foreign Affairs Council on 20 June, which I attended, discussed the broad situation in relation to the Middle East Peace Process, and in particular the prospects for the current efforts of US Secretary of State Kerry to get the parties to resume direct negotiations. Secretary Kerry has been working intensively on this issue since he took office, and is presently making his sixth visit to the region since March. He is endeavouring to get the agreement of both sides for a structure for talks and for confidence building measures on the ground to help the parties domestically, and especially the Palestinian side, to enter the process. All of us are aware of the many difficulties in this process. Secretary Kerry is strongly committed and believes that he is making progress. But he can only succeed if the parties are willing.

At EU level, we considered the prospects for talks, and what we can do both to assist in getting talks started and in bolstering them once they begin. This could include direct encouragement and support for the parties, EU actions to help build confidence on the ground and support in our political contacts with the US for what the Administration is doing on the Middle East. The Council also continued to discuss its own analysis of the situation on the ground, and in particular the EU's strong opposition to Israeli policies in the occupied Territory which are acting directly contrary to the chances of achieving a peace agreement.

As the Deputy is aware, the EU is working on guidelines for the labelling of goods produced in Israeli settlements. The European Commission will this week publish guidelines on the non-eligibility of entities in the settlements for participation in EU funded programmes. These are important steps and I believe the Council should do more to reinforce this work. I expect the Foreign Affairs Council next week will continue these discussions on the Middle East, although it is unlikely that Secretary Kerry will have reached the point of presenting his plans publicly before the Council meets.