Interpreting EU–Israel relations: a contextual analysis of the EU’s Special Privileged Partnership proposal

Abstract

This article analyses the background, content and implications of the EU proposal for ‘Special Privileged Partnership’ status to be granted to Israel and the future state of Palestine in the event of a successful conclusion to the peace process. It employs a sociological institutionalist perspective to assess the diplomatic manoeuvring in the broader context of EU–Israel relations. The analysis offers an identification and categorization of the constitutive components of the EU–Israel relationship into formal and social elements. It argues that differences in threat perception, Israel’s highly securitized ethos and different interpretations of the security versus legality equation are social, constitutive elements of the relationship that cannot be efficiently changed by a mere upgrade of the formal institutional setting, even if the economic incentives to do so were attractive. In other words, the sources of tension between the EU and Israel observed in recent decades are not likely to be overcome by a discursive or institutional upgrade around the concept of partnership.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ I would like to acknowledge the input of one of the anonymous referees on this point.

² Euro-Mediterranean Aviation Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part and the government of the State of Israel, of the other part. Official Journal L 208, 2 August 2013.

³ Council Decision 2013/1/EU of 20 November 2012. Official Journal L 1/1, 4 January 2013.

⁴ Council Decision 2009/855/EC of 20 October 2009. Official Journal 313/81, 28 November 2009.

⁵ Interview with high-level European Commission official, Brussels, November 2011.

⁶ Interview with Member of the European Parliament, Aarhus, January 2013.

⁷ Interview with Israeli official, Brussels, November 2011.

⁸ Case C-386/08, Firma Brita GmbH v. Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Hafen, 2010 ECJ EUR-Lex LEXIS 63 (25 February 2010).

⁹ Interview with high-level EU official, Tel Aviv, June 2015.