The top legal advisor to Europe's highest court on Friday said that preferential EU trade terms with Israel may not apply to goods and services emanating from the Palestinian territories. "In Advocate General (Yves) Bot's opinion, products originating from the occupied territories are not entitled to preferential customs treatment" under a European Union agreement with Israel, the EU court advisor said a statement.
Such opinions are not binding, but are almost always followed by the European courts. The case concerns a German company, Brita, which imports drinks makers for sparkling water manufactured by the company Soda-Club based in Mishor Adumin in the West Bank to the east of Jerusalem. German authorities asked Israel to clarify the products' origins, but the Israeli authorities said only that they emanated from territory under their control.
After refusing a licence to import these products, Brita challenged Germany's decision in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The statement said Bot "recalls that Israel's borders were defined by the Plan for the Partition of Palestine, approved on 29 November 1947 by the United Nations." As the EU also has a similar agreement with the Palestinian authorities, Bot also concluded that preferential tariffs there may apply "only if the certificates of origin necessary are issued, in accordance with that agreement, by the Palestinian authorities".
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