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The Practice and Case Law of Israel in Matters Related to International Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2014

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In 1995, the Association Agreement between Israel and the European Community was signed in Brussels. This instrument is the product of years of negotiations. Europe's traditional policy on a linkage between the nature of its economic and political ties with Israel and progress in the Middle East peace process have led to static relations between the two, despite the importance attached by the Community to the region as part of its Mediterranean policy. The achievements of the Israeli-Palestinian (and Israeli-Arab) peace process, which was renewed with the October 1991 Madrid Conference, have at last enabled Israel and the Community to establish the Association status sought by Israel. A true comprehensive understanding of the Association Agreement necessitates therefore an examination of several other subjects such as the previous relations between the sides and the legal arrangements institutionalising these relations; Israel's trade position with Europe; the European Community's Mediterranean Agricultural and Commercial policies, and many other. This, however, cannot be done within the limits of this paper. Instead, this section merely seeks to briefly survey the legal regime embodied in the Association Agreement, that is, its general structure, main features and important legal, economic and political provisions. It should be emphasised that no detailed analysis of the provisions of the Association Agreement is intended, for the Association Agreement encompasses many fields and areas.

Type
International Law
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1995

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References

1 November 20, 1995 (“the Association Agreement”). The Agreement and related documents were published by the Israel Information Center, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem and by the European Communities O.J. L 71 (March 20, 1996).

2 More on the development in the relations between Israel and the Community, see Kim, C.C., “Developments in the Commercial Policy of the E.E.C.” (1971) 8 Common Market Law Review 148Google Scholar; and the authorities cited in n. 8, infra.

3 Accord Commercial entre L'Etat D'Israël et La Communauté Economique Européenne, 15 K.A. 683 (Number 594).

4 Accord entre La Communauté Economique Européenne et L'Etat D'Israël, 21 K.A. 413 (Number 726).

5 See Kim, supra n. 2, at 165.

6 O.J. L 136 (28.5.1975); 24 K.A. (Number 822) (“the 1975 Agreement”). Another Agreement was signed on the same occasion between Israel and the Member-States of the European Coal and Steel Community.

7 These include: the Additional Protocol to the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, signed in Brussels, February 8, 1977, O.J. L 270 (September 27, 1978); (first) Protocol Relating to Financial Cooperation between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, signed in Brussels, February 8, 1977, O.J. L 270 (September 27, 1978); Protocol to the European Economic Community and the State of Israel Consequent on the Accession of the Hellenic Republic to the Community, signed in Brussels, February 11, 1982 — reproduced in Protocols of the EEC-Israel Agreement and Other Basic Texts, (Council of European Communities, Brussels, 1992), at 311; Protocol to the Agreement between the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community and the State of Israel Consequent on the Accession of the Hellenic Republic to the Community, signed in Brussels, February 11, 1982, ibid., at 347; Second Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, ibid., at 355; Third Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, ibid., at 359; Fourth Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, ibid., at 365; Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel Consequent on the Accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic to the Community, signed in Brussels, December 15, 1987, ibid., at 393; Protocol to the Agreement between the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community and the State of Israel Consequent on the Accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic to the Community, signed in Brussels, December 15, 1987, ibid., at 543; (second) Protocol Relating to Financial Cooperation between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, signed in Brussels, June 24, 1983, O.J. L 335 (November 30, 1983); (third) Protocol Relating to Financial Cooperation between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, signed in Brussels, December 15, 1987, O.J. L 327 (November 30, 1988); (fourth) Protocol Relating to Financial Cooperation between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel, signed in Brussels, June 12, 1991, O.J. L 94 April 8, 1992).

8 For reviews of the 1975 Agreement, see Kaniel, M., “The European Economic Community and Israel” (1991) 33 HaPraklit 388Google Scholar; Kapeliuk-Klinger, D., “A Legal Analysis of the Free Trade Agreement of 1975 between the European Community and the State of Israel”, (1993) 27 Is.L.R. 415CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Cohen, Y., Israel's Integration in the Economic Structure of the European Community, (Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Jerusalem, 2nd ed., 1979)Google Scholar; for a thorough evaluation of the Free Trade aspects of the Agreement, see Einhorn, T., The Role of the Free Trade Agreement between Israel and the E.E.C.: The Legal Framework for Trading with Israel between Theory and Practice, (Nomos Recht, Baden-Baden, 1994)Google Scholar. See also Henig, S., External Relations of the European Community: Associations and Trade Agreements (1971)Google Scholar. Israel also has free trade agreements with the U.S.A. and with the EFTA states: Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the State of Israel, signed in Washington D.C. on April 22, 1985 (28 K.A. 381, Number 972), and the Agreement between the EFTA states and Israel, signed in Geneva on September 17, 1992.

9 Article 81, the Association Agreement.

10 More on the mixed agreements can be found in: Kaniel, M., The Exclusive Treaty Making Power of the European Community, (Tel Aviv University, 1994, Hebrew), Chapter VII, at 159190Google Scholar. Additional reasons for signing mixed agreements are listed at 163-5. See also O'Keeffe, D. and Schermers, H.G. (eds), Mixed Agreements, (Kluwer, Deventer, 1983)Google Scholar.

11 Article 238 of the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, (1957) 298 United Nations Treaty Series 11, empowers the Community to conclude “agreements establishing an association involving reciprocal rights and obligations, common action and special procedures”.

12 Article 2, the Association Agreement.

13 Joint Declaration Relating to Article 2, Final Act.

14 See, for example, Article 31(1) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Vienna, May 23, 1969 (1969) 8 International Legal Materials 679.

15 Article 3, the Association Agreement.

16 Article 3(2), the Association Agreement.

17 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, reproduced in “The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations: The Legal Texts” the GATT Secretariat, (Geneva, 1994) at 21.

18 Second and seventh preambular paragraphs, the Association Agreement.

19 Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation, reproduced in “The Results of the Uruguay Round ….”, supra n. 17, at 5.

20 In that connection, see Article 6(2) of the Association Agreement, which provides that in classifying goods in trade between the Parties, both the combined nomenclature and the Israeli Custom tariff will be used. See also the Joint Declaration Relating to Article 6(2), Final Act. On agricultural products, see Hirsch, M., “The 1995 Trade Agreement between the European Communities and Israel: Three Unresolved Issues”, (1996) 1 European Foreign Affairs Review 87, at 111Google Scholar.

21 Articles 16 (imports) and 17 (exports), the Association Agreement; note that the 1975 Agreement contained a prohibition on quantitative restrictions only with respect to imports — see Articles 3 and 4,1975 Agreement, and Einhorn, supra n. 8, at 20-22.

22 Article 18, the Association Agreement.

23 Article 19(1), the Association Agreement which, in essence, repeats the wording of Article 9 (first paragraph) of the 1975 Agreement. See Munin, N., Taxation of Import According to Israel's Free Trade Area Agreements, (The Harry Sacher Institute for Legislative Research and Comparative Law, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1995, in Hebrew)Google Scholar.

24 Article 21, the Association Agreement.

25 Article 23, the Association Agreement.

26 Which originate in Article 17, the Association Agreement.

27 Article 24, the Association Agreement.

28 Article 26, the Association Agreement.

29 Article 7, the Association Agreement. For the equivalent provisions in the 1975 Agreement, see Article 5 of that Agreement.

30 These are listed in Annexes II and IV, the Association Agreement.

31 Article 9, the Association Agreement.

32 Article 10, the Association Agreement.

33 Article 11, the Association Agreement.

34 Articles 14 and 15, the Association Agreement.

35 Article 12, the Association Agreement. See also the Agreement in the Form of Exchange of Letters between the Community and Israel Relating to Protocol 1 and Concerning Imports into the Community of Fresh Cut Flowers and Flower Buds Falling within Subheading 0603 10 of the Common Customs Tariff, which is annexed to the Final Act.

36 Article 12, the Association Agreement.

37 See Hirsch, supra n. 20, at 89-90.

38 Minor amendments to the Protocol were introduced in Decision 2/76 of the Joint Committee Amending Protocol No. 3, O.J. L 190/1 of 29/7/76, 28 K.A. 57 (No. 959), and in Decision 1/78 of the Joint Committee, O.J. L 80/1 of 31/3/79.

39 Einhorn, supra n. 8, at 28-9.

40 [Protocol] Concerning the Definition of the Concept of “Originating Products” and Methods of Administrative Cooperation; see also Article 28, the Association Agreement.

41 Declaration by the European Community on Cumulation of Origin (Article 28), Final Act.

42 Declaration by the European Community on Adaptation of Origin (Article 28), Final Act.

42a On trade in services see Hirsch, supra n. 20, at 100.

43 General Agreement on Trade in Services, reproduced in “The Results of the Uruguay Round ….”, supra n. 17, at 325.

43a See Hirsch, supra n. 20, at 92.

44 Except for buses.

45 Joint Declaration on Public Procurement, Final Act.

46 As yet unpublished.

47 On these Agreements, see Hirsch, supra n. 20, at 99-100.

48 Lev, E.A., The Law of the European Community: Aspects Relevant to the Israeli Lawyer and Businessman, (Tel-Aviv, 1994) at 196Google Scholar. The second part of the rationale relies on the ECJ's judgment given in Case 174/84 Bulk Oil (Zug) AG. v. Sun International Ltd. and Sun Oil Trading Co. (1986) 2 Common Market Law Review 732, which related to the interpretation of the free movement of goods provisions of the 1975 Agreement.

49 Article 36(2), the Association Agreement.

50 And, where it comes to products covered by the Treaty Establishing the Steel and Coal Community, by the relevant Articles of that instrument. See Declaration by the European Community Relating to Article 36, Final Act.

51 Articles 37 and 38, the Association Agreement, respectively.

52 The definition of the term “intellectual, industrial and commercial property” in the Association Agreement is very broad: see the Joint Declaration Relating to Article 39 and Annex VII, Final Act.

53 Article 41, the Association Agreement. As to “the overall objectives of the Agreement”, these are presumably those mentioned in the Agreement's Preamble and in Article 1(2). The economic cooperation covers various fields, including: Regional Cooperation (Article 44, and see also the Joint Declaration Relating to Article 44, and the Declaration by the European Community on Economic Cooperation, Final Act); Industrial Cooperation (Article 45); Agriculture (Article 46); Standards (Article 47); Financial Services (Article 48); Customs (Article 49); Environment (Article 50); Energy (Article 51); Information Infrastructures and Telecommunications (Article 52); Transport (Article 53); Tourism (Article 54); Approximation of Laws (Article 55); Drugs and Money Laundering (Article 56); and Migration (Article 57).

53a Since the Association Agreement was signed, Israel and the Communities signed an agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

54 Article 63, the Association Agreement.

55 Article 64, the Association Agreement.

56 Articles 65-66, the Association Agreement. See also the Declaration by Israel on Article 65, Final Act, which deals with the avoidance of double contribution.

57 The Association Council is composed of members of the Council of the European Union and of the Commission of the European Communities and members of the Israeli government, and is to meet at ministerial level.

58 Article 67, the Association Agreement.

59 Article 68, the Association Agreement. In relation to the rules of procedure, see also the Joint Declaration Relating to Article 68, Final Act.

60 Article 69(2), the Association Agreement.

61 Article 69(1), the Association Agreement.

62 Article 70, the Association Agreement.

63 The Association Committee is to meet at official level, and is to be composed of “representatives” of the members of the Council of the European Union, the Commission of the European Communities, and of representatives of the government of Israel. See Article 71, the Association Agreement.

64 Article 72, the Association Agreement.

65 Article 76, the Association Agreement.

66 Article 85, the Association Agreement.

67 Which, like the 1975 Agreement, was signed in Brussels on May 11, 1975.

68 Final Act.

69 The titles of the Articles of the Association Agreement which were so reproduced by the Interim Agreement are brought here, accompanied by the titles under which they appear in the Interim Agreement (in brackets): Article 2 (Article 1); Article 6 (Article 2); Article 7 (Article 3); Article 8 (Article 4); Article 9 (Article 5); Article 10 (Article 6); Article 11 (Article 7); Article 12 (Article 8); Article 13 (Article 9); Article 14 (Article 10); Article 15 (Article 11); Article 16 (Article 12); Article 17 (Article 13); Article 18 (Article 14); Article 19 (Article 15); Article 20 (Article 16); Article 21 (Article 17); Article 22 (Article 18); Article 23 (Article 19); Article 24 (Article 20); Article 25 (Article 21); Article 26 (Article 22); Article 27 (Article 23); Article 28 (Article 24); Article 36 (Article 25); Article 37 (Article 26); Article 38 (Article 27); Article 39 (Article 28); Article 49 (Article 29); Article 68 (Article 31); Article 75 (Article 32); Article 76 (Article 33); Article 77 (Article 34); Article 79 (Article 35); Article 80 (Article 36); Article 82 (Article 37); and Article 83 (Article 38). In addition, Annexes I-VII and Protocols 1-5 have entered into force together with the Interim Agreement.

70 See Weiler, J., “Comments on the Dispute Resolution Procedures in the EU-Israel New Association Agreement”, in Hirsch, M., Inbar, E. and Sadeh, T. (eds.), The Future Relations between Israel and the European Union, (The Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Helmut Kohl Center for European Studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bursi Publications, Tel Aviv)Google Scholar (forthcoming).

71 Article 75(3), the Association Agreement.

72 Article 75(4), the Association Agreement.

73 See the Joint Declaration Relating to Article 75, the Association Agreement.

74 Article 75(4), the Association Agreement.

75 H.C. 298/96, (as yet unpublished) (Judgment was delivered on January 14, 1996).

76 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Signed in Washington, D.C., on September 28, 1995; the Agreement was published by the Information Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel in December 1995, and reviewed in the previous issue of this section: Giladi, R.M., “The Practice and Case Law of Israel in Matters Related to International Law” (1995) 29 Is.L.R. 506CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

77 Ibid., at 518-9.

78 The application was heard and judgment was given together with H.C. 317/96 Zalman Shoval and Yehoshua Matza, M.P. v. Minister of Communications and others (as yet unpublished).

79 34 L.S.I. 209; reproduced in Lapidoth, R. and Hirsch, M., The Jerusalem Question and its Resolution: Selected Documents, (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1994), at 322Google Scholar.

80 Law Implementing the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Jurisdiction and other Provisions) (Amendments), S.H. no. 1556, p. 34 (January 17, 1996), enacted on January 16, 1996. The Bill itself, including explanatory notes, was published in H.H. no. 2468, p. 330 (January 1, 1996).

81 On the status of international agreements within the Israeli legal system, and on the legal position of the Israeli-Palestinian agreements in international law, see “The Effect of International Treaties Within the Israeli Legal System”, in Giladi, R.M., “The Practice and Case Law of Israel in Matters Related to International Law” (1995) 29 Is. L.R. 506, at 535Google Scholar.

82 The list includes only primary legislation. The few secondary legislation promulgated in the implementation of the agreements deals primarily with privileges and immunities.

83 Enacted on December 21, 1994. Explanatory notes were published in H.H. no. 2299, p. 588 (July 25, 1994).

84 Enacted on December 21, 1994. Explanatory notes were published in H.H. no. 2299, p. 588 (July 25, 1994).

85 Enacted on December 26, 1994. Explanatory notes were published in H.H. no. 2299, p. 588 (July 25, 1994).

86 Enacted on February 1, 1995. Explanatory notes were published in H.H. no. 2351, p. 252 (January 23, 1995).

87 Enacted on May 31, 1995. Explanatory notes were published in H.H. no. 2393, p. 433 (April 3, 1995).

88 Enacted on January 16, 1996. Explanatory notes were published in H.H. no. 2468, p. 330 (January 1, 1996).

89 This list was kindly provided by Ms. Hemda Golan, Deputy Legal Advisor and Director of the Treaty Division, and by Ms. Rina Assaf of the Treaty Division, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem.

90 Signed between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

91 A World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) instrument.

92 A WIPO instrument.