This week, the European Union will face a critical test of its policy towards Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

Today, negotiations will recommence over the participation of Israel in Horizon 2020, the EU’s new seven-year programme for the funding of research and development, worth €80 billion.

The External Action Service and the European Commission will face intense pressure from Israel in these negotiations to backtrack on an important recent development: the EU guidelines excluding Israeli settlements from EU funding programmes.

Israel has already lobbied hard against the guidelines, threatening not to participate in Horizon 2020 if the guidelines are to apply.

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, advocated on behalf of Israel to EU foreign ministers gathered in Vilnius last Saturday to reconsider the application of the guidelines.

Europe must not give in to these protestations, for the following reasons.

Firstly, the guidelines are only the necessary minimum to effectively implement the EU’s legal obligations under its own law and international law.