Brussels, 03/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 30 October, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the president of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, called for greater participation of the EU member states in the trust funds for Syria and Africa.
“With the Valletta summit approaching (Ed: on 11-12 November), it is crucial for national efforts to come closer to European financing”, they said in a joint letter to the EU heads of state and government. While the fund for Syria will receive an additional €500 million from Europe, the member states - although they committed to “a substantial rise” in their contributions - have only pledged another €47.3 million thus far. For the trust fund for Africa, the EU is expected to release €1.8 billion when the member states have only pledged €31.85 million.
“Coordinating our actions with our commitments is the biggest test we are facing and it is a test on which we cannot fail”, Tusk, Juncker and Bettel stated. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)