Belgium supports partial suspension of Israeli participation in Horizon
“This decision marks a turning point in the relations between the European Union and Israel, and is a concrete response to the violations by the Israeli government of both Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and humanitarian obligations towards the EU,” said Prévot.
“We ask the Commission to quickly come up with other concrete proposals for measures within the association agreement,” the minister added. “Pressure on the Israeli government must be increased to ensure full and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza. At the same time, we again call on Hamas to provide Israeli hostages with food and to release them immediately and unconditionally. Respect for human rights is and remains non-negotiable.”
Specifically, the Commission wants to stop financing start-ups and SMEs based in Israel that want to bring “disruptive technologies” to market through its ‘EIC Accelerator’. A qualified majority among the member states is needed to greenlight this. That has not yet been achieved, especially because Italy and Germany are holding back.
