"The European Union announced it has approved what it described as "the Interpretative Notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967." A commission spokesman said they would simply "ensure the uniform application of the rules concerning the indication of origin of Israeli settlement products. The aim is to ensure effective implementation of existing EU legislation." However, Israel's Foreign Ministry said "There is no doubt that the main purpose of the measure is to exert political pressure upon Israel...these measures are discriminatory in nature. It is intolerable that Israel is the only country that has been singled out by the EU for such a policy, despite the fact that there are over 200 disputed territories worldwide." They "constitute an attempt to prejudge the outcome of future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Worse, they could serve as an additional incentive for the PA to eschew direct negotiations with Israel."  ICEJ News