27 September 2011 – Keith welcomes today’s decision by the European Parliament to give consent to the conclusion of the EU-Palestine Interim Association Trade Agreement.

The main aim of the agreement is to help the development of the Palestinian economy through duty-free (and sometimes quota-free) access of Palestinian imports of agricultural products, processed agricultural products and fish and fishery products into the EU. Keith, a member of the Parliament’s International Trade committee, welcomes the fact that processed products are covered by the agreement, as they guarantee a much higher share of revenue to the country of origin than from the export of raw products.

Keith and his Green colleagues remain concerned about the agreement and how it might work in practice. One issue is the potential problem of goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements being wrongly declared as Palestinian, and therefore benefitting from duty free access to the EU. Furthermore, the agreement promotes an export led agro-industrial economy, which could undermine efforts to help Palestine develop in a truly sustainable manner.

However, having visited Gaza in the summer, in his role as member of the Parliament’s Palestine delegation,  Keith has witnessed firsthand the poverty and hardship resulting from the Israeli blockade of the area. He is therefore hopeful that increased trade with the EU will help boost the Palestinian economy, which is currently in crisis.