BRUSSELS (EJP)--- The so-called Action Plan, a relevant instrument of cooperation between the EU and Israel within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy, expires on Thursday.

Neither the amendments nor updates have been launched yet. But, according to  a source in the European Commission, the existing Action Plan will be extended for another year.

This plan was first adopted in April 2005 for a period of three years. Demand for deeper bilateral relations between the EU and Israel came together with the EU-enlargement process of 2004, when ten new countries joined the EU. In the face of this major enlargement, Israel demonstrated a great will to develop closer ties to the EU.

Three pillars of the Action Plan cover the most important fields in the relationship between EU and Israel.

The first one is the intensification of the political dialogue and cooperation that includes several meetings at the ministerial level, as well as meetings with EU senior officials.

The second pillar is integration of Israel into a common market. A free trade agreement with EU on industrial products has already been established since 1975

New bilateral negotiations concerning a free trade agreement on the liberalization of services and establishment are currently in the pipeline.

The last pillar is participation of Israel in EU-activities. It provides Israel with a preferential access to programs and agencies of the EU.

Israel was the first non-EU country that took part in the European Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, and in the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program, as well as one of the first participants in the Galileo project, the Global Navigation Satellite System of the EU and the European Space Agency.

In order to implement this Action Plan the institutionalization for both sides is inevitable.

For this reason, the EU–Israel Association Council, the EU–Israel Association committee and 10 sub-committees were created. These common bodies allow cooperation in a wide range of topics which boost the relationship between Israel and EU forward.

According to the European Commission, Israel is the most successful implementer of the Action Plan among all 16 participants in the European Neighbourhood Policy that covers EU’s eastern and southern neighbours like Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia from the one side and countries like Israel, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Palestinian Territories from the other side.

Observers in Brussels say that Israel today enjoys closer cooperation with the European Union than ever before.

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