Brussels, 20/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 December, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton announced fresh funding of €10 million to help “sustainable and inclusive growth and economic development”, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This funding will be added to the “Support for Enterprise and Export Development (SEED)” programme, which has existed since 2008. The SEED programme aims to improve the competitiveness of the Jordanian agriculture industry and manufacturing businesses, as well as to strengthen representative organisations, promote Jordanian exports and contribute to the reduction of the trade imbalance by enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs.
The same day, the EU and Jordan signed a protocol to their association agreement so as to enable Amman to participate in EU programmes. The EU-Jordan Association Council reviewed the endeavours of the Jordanian reforms, and the EU stated that it would deploy an electoral mission ahead of the parliamentary elections in January 2013. European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle said that it was important for the next parliamentary elections to be conducted in a free, fair and transparent society. The EU and Jordan also discussed the situation in the Middle East and Syria - Jordan is welcoming more than 250,000 Syrian refugees.
Relaunching the Union for the Mediterranean. Füle and the Jordanian minister for international planning and cooperation, Jaffar Hassan, also called for the relaunch of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). Füle said that after months of lying dormant, it was perhaps time to awaken the sleeping beauty, and that they would like to strengthen the capacity of the secretariat and secretary general. He stated that the UfM could bring added value to sectoral cooperation. He added that they would like to start programmes under the UfM label from next year onwards and that they wanted this label to be sufficiently attractive for private investors. Hassan said that they needed to exploit the UfM more with innovative tools to strengthen regional cooperation. (CG/transl.fl)