The EU, Jerusalem and the Peace Process

C·A·P Working Paper, Munich 2000

By Ruth Lapidoth

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About the Author

Ruth Lapidoth is Bessie and Michael Greenblatt Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In the framework of the Project "European Policy Network at Israeli Universities" in cooperation with the Bertelsmann Foundation, The CAP invited her for one semester to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich as a visiting professor. Her research work was dedicated to the question of Jerusalem, in the context of the Middle East Peace Process and the EU involvement. The article is to be published in the Festschrift for Prof. Thomas Oppermann of Tübingen.

Executive Summary

A short summary of the various aspects of the Jerusalem question is followed by an analysis of the provisions concerning Jerusalem which have been included in the 1993 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, and in the 1994 Treaty of Peace between Israel and Jordan.

The author analyzes the attitude adopted by the EU towards the situation in Jerusalem: de facto recognition of Israeli control of the western parts of the city, disapproval and non-recognition of Israel´s control over the eastern parts to which Israel has applied its " law, jurisdiction and administration² in 1967. The author finds inconsistency in the EU´s attitude towards the activities of the Palestinians in " Orient House² on the one hand, and its attitude towards the 3000th anniversary of the foundation of Jerusalem on the other hand.

In a last chapter the EU´s ideas about the future of Jerusalem are studied. According to certain statements, the EU is in favour of the " corpus separatum² solution, namely, territorial internationalization as recommended by the UN general Assembly in 1947, but in other pronouncements the EU has expressed its support for any resolution to which the parties may agree.

The study can be ordered through: Silke Mayerl