Despite the European Union's consistent acknowledgment that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, it is taking the Europeans a long time to translate this principled stance into policy. One of the simplest and most obvious ways the EU can act on the issue is to make sure that Europeans know whether the products they purchase are made in occupied territory.
In 2011, the EU issued a directive requiring the labeling of goods to inform consumers about the source of products. This was followed in 2015 by an “interpretive notice” announcing the requirement that goods produced in Israeli settlements have identifiable labeling clearly stating that they were made in a settlement.
