27 March 2024; MEMO: The Brussels City Council has passed a motion to halt the public procurement of products from Israeli settlements, Anadolu Agency reports.
The motion, brought by Benoit Hellings, a Councillor in the capital of Brussels, was adopted unanimously in a vote late Monday.
The motion asks the local authority to ensure that its purchases do not benefit companies working in conditions that do not respect international law, human rights or environmental law.
In 2015, the European Union issued new guidelines regarding products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including outlining that they are not entitled to benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
In 2019, the EU’s top court ruled that EU countries must identify products made in Israeli settlements on their labels.
All Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.
