Push for change on EU-Israel deal, Robinson urges
Ireland needs to be at the vanguard of those pushing for principled, ambitious policy shifts at the European Commission level, Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and member of The Elders, has said.
She made the comment during her keynote speech at an Irish Rule of Law International (IRLI) event entitled ‘What’s law got to do with it?’ at the Museum of Literature, Dublin (22 October).
There was standing room only and judges and senior representatives from Ukraine were in attendance.
“The EU, after all, was founded on human rights and respective rules of law. To defend these values, EU trade must be consistent with international law and with the EU's own policy positions on the illegality of settlements,” Robinson said.
Breaches ‘more blatant’
Kaja Kallas (High Representative of the Union of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) has stated that a ban on trade with settlements would be the justified and “principled stance” to take – but member states remain politically divided on this.
Robinson noted that The Elders wrote to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in October, urging her to act in support of the unilateral suspension of the core trade provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
“This is given Israel's systematic breaches of article 2 of the agreement on human rights, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. These breaches are ongoing and becoming ever more blatant,” she said.
“Aligning EU trade with international law is needed more than ever, and these are practical, tangible steps that could be taken now, as Ireland prepares to host the ninth European Political Community Summit on 12 November.
“This is the flagship event of Ireland’s EU presidency; it's in everybody's interest to put international law at the heart of the summit.
‘Fundamental responsibility’
“International law provides a framework that enables countries to cooperate, to protect rights, and to address challenges that no country can tackle alone.
“Championing it should not be considered provocative, a radical or controversial gamble, or any other excuse, but a fundamental responsibility that we must lead by positive example.”
At a time when authoritarian political forces are working hard to undermine international law, Robinson said that she felt it was necessary to reassert the importance of it to a broader public audience and strengthen civil society's resolve in its defence.
“We live in an age where populism is in the ascendancy, driven by a combination of economic insecurity, falling trust in politics and institutions, a wave of disinformation and hate speech on social media, and a pervasive feeling that leaders don't listen to ordinary citizens,” she said.
“In such a climate, it's all too easy for loud and powerful voices to peddle superficially attractive notions of taking back control and having personal freedom and to dismiss legal safeguards and counter-arguments as elitist, technocratic and at odds with the will of the people.
Communications problem
“We're all aware that international law has a communications problem. This is why it's critical to articulate the fact that international law isn't an abstract set of treaties debated by lawyers and diplomats.
“It's the architecture behind many aspects of our daily life: the phones and other digital communications devices we use every day, the fact that a plane can fly over borders safely, or that food and goods are traded freely, and young people are able to work between countries.”
Robinson told attendees at the IRLI event that international rule of law and human rights were under real strain.
She cited the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index, which showed that 68% of countries recorded a deterioration in respect of the rule of law in 2025 – the eighth consecutive year of deterioration.
‘Might is right’
“Trends to undermine the legal instruments and defund the mechanisms and bodies that seek justice and accountability globally are rapidly increasing across different countries and regions,” she said.
“The view that government will ultimately only rule through might is right has taken on additional force.”
This was not a time for apathy or passivity for the protection of international law and human dignity, she added.
“We believe in international law not because we want to defend an old, imperfect order of rules, but because it's the surest means through which we can defend, renew, and build the kind of world we want to live in and to lead for future generations.”