Karel De Gucht, the European commissioner for trade, has issued a statement saying that he regrets any offence caused by comments he made about Jews that led to him being accused of anti-Semitism.

De Gucht told a Belgian radio station yesterday (2 September) that one should “not underestimate the power of the Jewish lobby on Capitol Hill” in influencing US policy on Middle East peace talks.

The EU commissioner and former Belgian foreign minister was asked about his views on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as negotiations were re-launched in Washington, DC. He said it was “not easy” to have “a rational” debate with Jews on the peace process. “It is a very emotional issue,” the commissioner said.

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) today demanded that De Gucht apologise for his comments. “Once again we hear outrageous anti-Semitism from a senior European official,” Moshe Kantor, president of the EJC, said in a statement on the group’s website. “The libel of Jewish power is apparently acceptable at the highest levels of the European Union. This should worry everyone who seeks a more tolerant Europe.”

A European Commission spokesman said De Gucht’s comments “did not represent the position of the Commission”, adding that the comments were “personal”.

De Gucht’s office later issued a statement in which he said he did not mean to cause offence. “I regret that the comments that I made have been interpreted in a sense that I did not intend,” De Gucht said. “I did not mean in any possible way to cause offence or stigmatise the Jewish community. I want to make clear that anti-Semitism has no place in today’s world and is fundamentally against our European values.”

This is not the first time that De Gucht has got into trouble for making outspoken comments. He caused great upset as Belgian foreign minister when he publically chastised Congolese authorities for not doing enough to combat corruption. He said at the time that he had a moral right to criticise the former Belgian colony because Belgium gave it millions in aid.