Brussels, 21/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting with an Iraqi delegation, led by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in Brussels on Monday 20 January, Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development, announced that some €75 million in development support will be made available to Iraq during the period from 2014 to 2020.
The three main areas of cooperation are the rule of law and human rights, capacity building in primary and secondary education and sustainable energy for all. These areas are all included in the Iraqi National Development Plan 2013-2017 and the EU is looking to provide support to the Iraqi government in the reforms it will be undertaking.
Commissioner Piebalgs said that “the EU will focus future actions on strengthening rule of law and continue supporting institution building in Iraq aimed at reconstructing the country and improving the welfare of its population. This will be done in coordination with EU member states and other donors, and in line with the government's own plans”.
Regional and thematic cooperation will focus on complementary areas (e.g democracy and human rights, civil society organisations and local authorities). €75 million over seven years is much less than the €157 million allocated to Iraq over the previous bilateral cooperation period (2008-2013) for areas such as governance, rule of law, health, water management and education. EU cooperation with Iraq, however, complies with the principles set out in the Agenda for Change, the Commission's blueprint to focus its development aid on those countries most in need (least developed countries) and those sectors where greater results can be achieved. According to the latest World Bank classification, Iraq is an “upper-middle-income” country with a GNI/capita amounting to $5,870 (2012) (equivalent to €4,310).
According to the EU, the main difficulties faced by Iraq are not caused by lack of resources, but rather political instability, weak capacities and inadequate governance. Civil society in Iraq has significantly grown in the past few years. The Commission points out that an EU-funded programme is already helping to improve the working relations between public authorities and civil society. (AN/transl.fl)