In Brussels on Monday 27 European foreign ministers unanimously agreed to intensify European Union relations with Israel on several fronts. Egypt opposed the decision, despite its peace treaty with Israel.

The diplomatic elements of the intensified relations include periodic summit meetings between Israeli and European prime ministers, at least three meetings a year of EU and Israeli foreign ministers, and periodic meetings of foreign ministry directors general. The EU foreign ministers agreed to further Israeli integration in UN institutions, as well as possible integration of Israeli experts in European peace forces. The Knesset and European parliaments will also be enhancing their relations under the EU agreement.

There will also be ongoing professional dialogues on the Middle East peace process, geo-political strategy, counter-terrorism, organized crime and more. The EU will be joining Israel for intensified discussions on anti-Semitism and human rights. The ministers also voted to shelve a 2009 action plan for the diplomatic process between Israel and the Arabs.

As a first step in the expanded relations, Israel's prime minister will meet EU counterparts in Brussels in April.

Like Egypt, the Palestinian Authority opposed the EU foreign ministers' decision. However, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg reasoned that upgrading relations will help the PA, as Israel will ease restrictions on Arabs in Judea and Samaria. For its part, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that it intends to use the intensified dialogue to convince Europe to increase pressure on Hamas and to ratchet up actions against Iran, while ensuring that Israel's strategic interests are protected in every diplomatic process.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that the EU decision was "a meaningful achievement for Israeli diplomacy, opening a new chapter in Israel's diplomatic relations with EU states. It reflects the increasing cooperation between the parties, based on common values and similar world views."
Livni said that the EU decision was "a meaningful achievement for Israeli diplomacy."

The Foreign Ministry said that Israel has been negotiating with the EU on the details and nature of the upgrade in their relations for the past year and a half, since Livni and the EU representatives agreed to do so in Luxembourg last June. "This move will enable Israel to integrate more fully into the changing global constellation and to confront, as an equal partner, the challenges facing the international community today - the economic crisis, global terrorism, the threat of extremism, WMD proliferation, and the environment. Ties with the European Union are a central pillar in Israel's foreign policy," a Foreign Ministry press statement said.

Despite the decision to generally intensify EU-Israel relations, in November the EU Parliament passed a resolution restricting the participation of "companies and organisations based in the settlements in the occupied territories" - meaning in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria - from taking part in EU development programs. The resolution calls for "tightening up checks on Israeli products imported into the EU under preferential trade rules. ...Infringement proceedings should be started if products from the occupied Palestinian territories bearing Israeli labels are exported to the Union."