Israeli officials said that an unofficial European Union draft report which fails to recognize Israel's right to a "united capital" could harm relations with Europe. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the draft policy statement on east Jerusalem is a "throwback to the past," and said that if approved it "would have repercussions on the way we perceive the European involvement here." The draft report, being prepared for policy adoption by an EU committee in December, refers to certain Jerusalem neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city as "illegal settlements." The report said that “The EU, along with most of the rest of the international community, does not recognize Israel's unilateral annexation of east Jerusalem and regards the east Jerusalem 'neighborhoods' as illegal settlements like any others.”