Of 136 petitions registered – known as the European Citizens’ Initiative – over more than a decade, only 14 had reached the threshold of one million signatures required to be officially presented to the EU executive.
The ECI mechanism requires the Commission to examine petitions signed by more than a million EU citizens from more than seven countries. Earlier this year, the Commission rejected a petition to increase funding for abortion after it was signed by 1.2 million citizens.
The Alliance of the European Left, a group of 11 left-wing political parties, launched the petition almost two years ago. The group said the EU should suspend its trade and political dialogue with Israel over what it sees as the country’s failure to prevent genocide in Gaza.
France collected the highest number of signatures with 339,479, followed by Italy with 283,863 and Spain with 151,821. The Commission will respond by May 2027 to indicate whether it plans to take action in response to the petition.
Originally signed in 1995 and entered into force in 2000, the Association Agreement covers political dialogue and trade between the EU and Israel. The bloc is Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for around a third of its total merchandise trade with the world in 2025, according to EU data.
The wars in Gaza and Lebanon have sparked fierce criticism of Israel and divided European leaders.
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