Socialist group in EP against upgrade of trade ties with Israel

The Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats ( SD Group ) announced Wednesday that it had voted against the reolustion in the European Parliament on a deal with Israel to ease trade in medicines. "Our vote against this agreement was not a vote against Israel but a vote against the present Israeli government's continued disregard for European demands concerning the rights of the Palestinians, " said Hannes Swoboda, SD Group leader in the EP, in a statement. With 189 members, the SD Group is the second-largest political group in the 754-seat parliament. EP rapporteur of the report and SD Member Vital Moreira said in a statement that "given our firm condemnation of the Israeli government's policy regarding the occupied territories, we felt we should not award Israel the bonus of improved trade relations." "Therefore I could not recommend agreeing to the protocol at this point in time and in the present circumstances," he said. "Unfortunately the majority of the Parliament has chosen to endorse the current situation and to proceed with the vote," lamented Moreira. The EP approved the deal with Israel yesterday with 379 votes in favour 230 against and 41 abstentions. The EU-Israel agreement on mutual recognition of pharmaceutical certificates will remove technical barriers to trade, cut manufacturers' costs and enable them to get their products to market faster. On her part, SD vice-president Veronique de Keyser said "Israeli policy towards the occupied territories does not allow us to vote in favour of this protocol at the present time. We were obliged to ask for this decision to be postponed." "We should remember that in the resolution of 4 September 2008, the European Parliament clearly expressed its belief that improvements in EU-Israel relations should be consistent with, and linked to, Israel 's compliance with all obligations under international law," she noted.