J. whereas the EU has been encountering a variety of problems when enforcing the rules of origin with regard to products originating in settlements in occupied territories; whereas in its Declaration for the Fourth Meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council in 2003 the EU stressed ‘the importance of solving the bilateral issue of rules of origin before the origin protocol is amended’ so that Pan-Euromed cumulation of origin could be applied; whereas, in the absence of such a solution, the Commission has sought to address these problems by concluding a legally non-binding bilateral technical arrangement with Israel pursuant to which ...[+++]Israel includes on each proof-of-origin document the postal codes of the places in which the products it covers have been produced, thereby enabling EU customs authorities immediately to impose non-preferential duties on products produced in Israeli settlements;

J. whereas the EU has been encountering a variety of problems when enforcing the rules of origin with regard to products originating in settlements in occupied territories; whereas in its Declaration for the Fourth Meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council in 2003 the EU stressed ‘the importance of solving the bilateral issue of rules of origin before the origin protocol is amended’ so that Pan-Euromed cumulation of origin could be applied; whereas, in the absence of such a solution, the Commission has sought to address these problems by concluding a legally non-binding bilateral technical arrangement with Israel pursuant to which I ...[+++]srael includes on each proof-of-origin document the postal codes of the places in which the products it covers have been produced, thereby enabling EU customs authorities immediately to impose non-preferential duties on products produced in Israeli settlements;

(53) It is not the intention of this Directive to require the application of pre-trade transparency rules to transactions carried out on an OTC basis, the characteristics of which include that they are ad-hoc and irregular and are carried out with wholesale counterparties and are part of a business relationship which is itself characterised by dealings above standard market size, and where the deals are carried out outside the systems usually used by the firm concerned for its business as a systematic internaliser.

Last November, the European Union stressed before the EU-Israel Association Council the importance of resolving the problem of the rules of origin before any amendment of the protocol on these same rules.

In the Declaration of the European Union delivered at the Association Council EU-Israel of 17-18 November 2003, the EU stressed ‘the importance of solving the bilateral issue of rules of origin before the origin protocol is amended’.

We could therefore try to find new ground rules for the future, but ones which do not affect ourselves alone but, above all, involve the people.