Ten Belgian university rectors, including VUB rector Jan Danckaert, are calling on the European Union to suspend the association treaty with Israel. In a joint opinion piece, they stress that structural human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank are incompatible with the fundamental values on which the EU claims to build.
Opinion - Appeal to a values-driven European Union, in word and deed
On 20 May, the European Foreign Affairs Council will meet to discuss whether Israel still meets the conditions of Article 2 of the Association Agreement with the European Union. That article is not a technical clause, but a fundamental principle: respect for human rights and democratic principles is the basis on which cooperation with third countries rests. If this basis is structurally violated, there must be consequences. Otherwise, our European treaties risk being watered down into empty words.
Israel has been conducting a devastating military offensive in Gaza for months. The images and figures speak for themselves: tens of thousands of civilian casualties, systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, blockades on humanitarian aid, and ever-growing famine. Meanwhile, repression also continues unabated in the occupied West Bank: house demolitions, arbitrary arrests, violent settler attacks and expansion of illegal settlements. Several reports by the United Nations and human rights organisations have extensively and unequivocally documented these violations. The International Court of Justice previously ruled that Israel must take all measures to protect Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from the risk of genocide by ensuring adequate basic services and humanitarian aid.
Despite this abundance of evidence, there remains excruciating silence in Europe. More than 20 years ago, Article 2 of the Association Agreement was included to put values such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law at the heart of the Union's foreign policy. But those values are only credible if our partners are called to account on them. Surely it cannot be the intention that those values become less relevant depending on whether the partner concerned is more strategic or more sensitive ?
This uncomfortable truth erodes our international credibility. Yet it is the policy ambition of EU president Ursula von der Leyen to give even more weight to human rights monitoring and make it, together with security, pivotal to European foreign policy. This ambition is incompatible with the current silence.
Our Belgian universities are increasingly confronted with this contradiction. Europe recognises Israel as a full partner in the bilateral Association Agreement. This means, among other things, that Israeli knowledge institutions, even if they are part of the Israeli state apparatus, can participate in the large-scale European research and innovation programme Horizon Europe. Participating organisations are expected, according to Article 14 of the model agreement, to act in accordance with the ‘highest ethical standards’ and the EU's fundamental values: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights. In theory, this is clear. In practice, it falters.
Following the horrors in the occupied Palestinian territories, Belgian universities have repeatedly asked the European Commission to provide a transparent and effective ethical screening framework. Such a framework would allow to assess whether the content of research projects poses a risk of human rights violations, and whether the (intended) project partners contribute to such violations. Until today, however, the Commission's reaction is limited to a minimalist reading of the said Article 14: any structurally unethical behaviour of a partner institution is disregarded, only risks specific to the content of the project are considered.
Belgian universities bet heavily on ethical screenings, but lack the leverage to translate their conclusions into concrete action. Unilateral withdrawal from consortia or, if necessary, barring Israeli partners from approved projects, leads to legal uncertainty, exposure to potential damages, and reputational damage. Without a clear European framework, it is almost impossible to legally substantiate morally sound choices.
In the current situation that continues to escalate relentlessly, we call on the European Commission to go one step further and suspend the Association Agreement with Israel. The suspension of the treaty is not an extreme demand but a logical consequence of the treaty's own terms. Article 2 states that cooperation is ‘essentially conditional’ on respect for human rights. If that condition is systematically violated by the Association partner, then suspension is not only politically necessary but also legally justified.
We call on the Belgian government to argue for such suspension at the upcoming Council. In addition, we ask that Belgium urge the European Commission to work towards a transparent, structural and independent human rights framework for the assessment of all international partnerships within Horizon Europe and other European programmes. Belgian universities are willing to share their experiences and think constructively about solutions. But that requires clear political choices.
The European Union can only retain its moral authority if it is willing to take its own values seriously - even when it is uncomfortable to do so. Holding Israel responsible for ongoing human rights violations is not an ideological stance, but a moral and legal necessity.
Annick Castiaux (UNamur), Jan Danckaert (VUB), Philippe Dubois (UMons), Herwig Leirs (UAntwerpen), Anne-Sophie Nyssen (ULiège), Annemie Schaus (ULB), Luc Sels (KU Leuven), Françoise Smets (UCLouvain), Rik Van de Walle (UGent), Bernard Vanheusden (UHasselt).
Source: VLIR