EU-Zionist Entity Association Agreement Initiative Reaches Minimum Thresholds in Seven Countries
The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) launched a month ago to suspend the association agreement linking the European Union and the Zionist entity has already reached the minimum required thresholds in seven countries, its organizers said on Tuesday.
For an ECI to be valid, it must gather at least one million valid signatures from across the EU within one year, and meet minimum national signature thresholds in at least seven member states, according to EU rules. Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Sweden have all surpassed their required thresholds, the organizers said in a statement.
France is currently leading the initiative with more than 204,000 signatures, organizers added.
The European Left Alliance, a coalition of left-wing parties from seven countries, launched the initiative in mid-January to seek the full suspension of the EU-Zionist entity Association Agreement. The petition argues that continuing the pact would amount to “legitimizing and financing a state committing war crimes and crimes against humanity,” pointing to evidence of civilian killings, displacement and destruction of medical infrastructure in Gaza.
Under the association agreement, the Zionist entity’s economic and political partnership with the EU is based on respect for human rights and democratic principles. Critics of the agreement say the Zionist entity’s actions in Gaza and the occupied territories violate the treaty’s human-rights clause (Article 2), and that the EU should respond under its own legal framework.
If the initiative ultimately reaches the required signatures, EU rules require the European Commission to formally consider the petition and issue a response, although it is not obliged to adopt a specific legislative proposal.
