European Union

The European Parliament voted on its EU budget for aid and foreign policy (NDICI). In response to the vote, Evelien van Roemburg, Oxfam EU Head of Office said: "This new financial instrument stands a real chance at combatting poverty and inequality which has leapt during the pandemic."

Today, the European Commission presented its Tax Omnibus proposal to simplify tax rules and reduce bureaucracy across the EU. In response, Oxfam Tax Policy Expert, Julien Desiderio said: “Simplification is the European Commission’s latest euphemism for deregulation. At a time of record corporate profits and exploding inequality, after decades of a race to the bottom on effective corporate tax rates, the obvious response would be to ensure those who have gained the most contribute more. 

Dear President von der Leyen,

Dear High Representative / Vice-President Kallas,

Dear Commissioner Šefčovič,

Dear Commissioners, 

We, the undersigned human rights and humanitarian organizations, are writing to urge you to propose a regulation to prohibit EU trade with Israel’s illegal settlements.

Amid growing calls from EU member states’ ministers of foreign affairs, the High Representative has repeatedly requested the Commission to prepare a proposal to restrict trade with Israel’s illegal settlements. As many of us raised in a joint letter in February 2025 we believe that the EU must ban such trade and should do so under article 207 TFEU, as a measure necessary to bring EU trade into compliance with international law, including as most authoritatively interpreted by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its landmark advisory opinion of 19 July 2024.

Today, the European Parliament adopted its position on the next EU long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework. Its position called for an increased overall MFF budget, including for its external action, and supported proposals for EU own resources. In response, Hanna Saarinen, Oxfam EU Development Finance Policy Lead, said: “Today’s vote sent a clear signal to EU governments: Europe needs a bigger budget and new funding streams to back it up. 

Today, European Foreign Affairs Ministers discussed the situation in the Middle East, including Lebanon and Palestine. In response, Agnes Bertrand Sanz, Oxfam Humanitarian Expert, said:  “Discussions without action are meaningless. We have seen this pattern before – talk, delay, repeat. And in the meantime, Israel continues to kill, wound and displace people. What is needed now – and has been for a long time – is the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. 

We, the undersigned humanitarian and human rights organisations and trade unions, write to you as Israeli authorities escalate their brutal repression and illegal annexation policies in Palestine, and violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Palestine and Lebanon to urge you to adopt the long-overdue measures proposed by President von der Leyen in September 2025, in particular the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, along with any additional steps necessary to comply with international law, including banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements and suspending all transfers and transit of arms to Israel.

A troubling idea has begun to circulate in European political circles: the idea that international law is exhausted. That it has little effect in today’s geopolitical world.  

This argument has surfaced in speeches of several European leaders. Most notably, in that of the European Commission’s President to EU Ambassadors last week. She is not alone, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz comments have raised similar questions. 

Ahead of the EU foreign affairs ministers meeting on Monday, Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s Policy Lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Gaza, said:  

“This fragile ceasefire is a start, but it is not the solution. For families in Gaza, words on paper mean very little unless aid reaches them, and not in symbolic trickles. What happens next and how the EU responds will be a defining test of Europe’s moral compass and political credibility. The EU cannot roll over into a policy of appeasement or take its leverage off the table. It cannot be a payer without being a player. Europe must use every diplomatic and political tool it has to rebuild lives and restore rights, or it risks being remembered as a bystander to realpolitik rather than a broker of principled peace.”   

This report highlights how foreign states and corporations, through ongoing trade with illegal settlements, directly enable the humanitarian crisis driven by Israel’s prolonged occupation.

On June 27, African and European agriculture ministers will gather in Rome for the 6th AU-EU Agriculture Ministerial Conference. This comes against a backdrop of a worsening climate crisis, soaring inequalities, and rising hunger. Nearly one in five people in Africa - close to 300 million - now face food insecurity. The stakes could not be higher. The decisions made in Rome could lay the foundations for food systems that are just, sustainable and deeply rooted in communities. A far cry from the current emphasis on an industrial, export-led agricultural system dominated by large corporations.