EU MINISTERS WILL seek to reach consensus on actions to pressure Israel over West Bank settlements when they meet in Co Wicklow this week. 

After a quiet August in the Irish Presidency of the EU, the schedule of meetings resumes this week – with defence ministers meeting in the plush surrounds of the five-star Druids Glen Hotel today and their foreign affairs counterparts gathering at the same venue on Wednesday. 

The two-day event will be the first major meetings of the presidency outside of Dublin and Cork.

The meetings, which will be chaired by Ireland’s defence and foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee, are classified as “informal” – meaning that they will discuss topics in depth but no decisions on action will be made.

The talks will be confidential and there will be direct discussion between the various ministers.

The informal meeting is the preamble ahead of formal Foreign Affairs and Defence conferences scheduled for later this month and in November.

The move to deal with the question of Israeli settlements follows the issuing last week of a joint statement from the French presidency and co-signed by the leaders of Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway and the Netherlands.

In it, they called out Israel’s publishing of tenders for new construction projects in an escalation of settler land grabs. 

Late last month, Israel gave final approval for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy plans for a future Palestinian state.

Sources have said that there is active consideration in the EU to take specific action against Israeli settlers. This would take the shape of a Europe-wide action similar to the contentious Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) in Ireland. 

This would ban imports of goods from inside Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Ireland is expected, along with states such as France, to push for more robust action in regard to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the violence in the West Bank.

The difficulty is that countries such as Germany and some in the Balkan region are generally opposed to any action that would damage relations with Israel. 

Defence

Discussions on West Bank settlers are expected to take place at the meeting of foreign affairs ministers on Wednesday. 

EU defence ministers meet at the Co Wicklow venue today, with McEntee acting as the host in conjunction with the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

The war in Ukraine will be front and centre along with the current security situation between Europe and Russia. It comes just days after the head of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, visited Moscow.

Ireland is particularly focused on maritime security, and there will be a broad discussion about EU missions to protect critical undersea infrastructure such as cables.

One discussion point that will likely be of interest to Irish industry will be around a plan to task tech companies to come up with innovative solutions to help police the seas around Ireland. 

It is understood the Irish Government are keen to engage with firms that specialise in using satellite data and other methods to monitor activities across the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone.  

The plan would be to utilise the tech to be able to identify and monitor ships and other craft. 

Kaja Kallas the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission (centre with Micheál Martin) is also expected to attend both days. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Ukraine war discussions will look at boosting support by initiating closer ties between EU and Ukraine defence industry. 

There will be talks around how the EU can secure space in security and defence. The discussion will look at an EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence. The focus on the space domain comes as the US and China, as well as other countries, have established a strong off-Earth capability.

Another area of interest to Ireland will be discussions about the current situation in Lebanon and strategies to deal with Israeli occupation of parts of the south, where Irish troops are based in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.

Sources have said there have been some discussions about an EU training mission in Lebanon, similar to a previous operation in Mali in which Irish troops were involved. 

The meeting will examine if the Common Security and Defence Policy could be used to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces. 

Foreign Affairs 

The informal meeting of EU foreign ministers will take place on Wednesday. 

It will not only be for 27 member states of the European Union, as Ed Miliband, Andy Burnham’s newly-minted foreign secretary, will also attend.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, centre, will attend the meeting. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is responsible for the EU’s foreign policy and manages the EU’s diplomatic relations with the rest of the world.

EU foreign ministers meet generally on a monthly in Brussels and in Luxembourg.

Foreign ministers also come together twice a year for these informal meetings known
as ‘Gymnichs’. Named after Schloss Gymnich in Germany, where the first session
took place in 1974, these gatherings are hosted by whichever country hosts the rotating presidency. 

The informal nature of Gymnich is designed to allow for more open and strategic discussions and meetings plays a key role in shaping the EU agenda on key issues.

In addition to discussions on settlements in the West Bank, ministers will also address how the EU can show a united front regarding the free movement of ships in the contested Strait of Hormuz. 

As with the defence ministers’ discussions, there will also be an examination of what the EU can do to assist in Lebanon. 

One of the more technical policy aspects will be to examine how the EU can use multilateral measures more effectively. In other words, they will try to reach some common perspective in how the bloc engages more efficiently with international problems and relationships with countries such as the US and China. 

Gardaí and the Irish Defence Forces have launched a major security operation around the golf resort offshore in the Irish Sea and in the air above the venue.

The cliché of ‘ring of steel’ appears to be the guiding principle for gardaí, with road closures and heavy security screening for attendees.