The European Union wants to strengthen political dialogue with Israel and involve the country "more closely in some EU policies like financial services or technological cooperation," the European Commissioner for foreign affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, has announced in Brussels. Speaking to reporters, Ferrero-Waldner (a former Austrian foreign minister) said the EU was "working on a targeted deepening of relations with some of our partners” in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the EU’s tool covering its eastern and southern neighbors. Israel is described as the ‘front-runner’ among non-EU members participating in EU programs that range from scientific cooperation to trade integration.
A ‘reflection group’ was currently considering areas “where we can substantially upgrade EU-Israel relations to a truly "special status,” Ferrero-Waldner said. Countries like Ukraine, Israel, Moldova and Morocco, Jordan and Georgia, and others, were now closer to European Union than ever before, she added. Israel is already the lead ENP partner associated in the fields of research cooperation and the first ENP country to participate in the EU’s Competitiveness and Innovation Program which supports small and medium-sized businesses. Israeli-European economic ties are growing as the parties seek to speedily integrate the strong and expanding Israeli economy into the huge European market, EU officials said.
