BICOM

Representatives met yesterday in Tel Aviv to begin discussions over Israel’s participation in the European Union’s (EU) flagship Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, in light of new EU finding guidelines which Israel’s government opposes.

Horizon 2020 aims to create jobs and fuel economic growth and Israel is the only non-EU country to be a full participant in the programme. Although Israel is expected to invest some six hundred million Euros in Horizon 2020 over the next seven years, it is expected to receive significantly more in research funds and other inbound investments.

However, Israel’s participation and partnership in subsequent EU agreements has been thrown into question after the EU last month adopted new funding guidelines which specify that all future EU grants and prizes should exclude Israeli entities based in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The new guidelines also stipulate that the agreement between Israel and the EU should explicitly state that it is not applicable to the territories captured in 1967, which could contradict the status of some of these areas under Israeli law.

The Foreign Ministry’s deputy director-general for economic affairs Irit Ben-Abba led Israel’s delegation at yesterday’s talks with officials from the EU’s directorate- general for research and innovation, to discuss rules and procedures over Israel’s participation. Israel’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying “Israel expressed its hope that a way to reach positive understandings on the guidelines’ implementation will be found,” but “It was emphasized that, should such understandings not be reached, Israel will be unable to join the European R&D program.” An EU statement said that yesterday’s meeting was limited to “exploratory talks on technical and financial aspects” of the programme and that the “territorial scope of the future memorandum” and the application of funding guidelines will take place during a second round of talks in Brussels in September.