On Monday 19 December, the EU-Jordan Association Council adopted, through the written procedure, priorities for their partnership for regional stability and a ‘compact’ between the two sides for dealing with the impact of the Syrian crisis (see EUROPE 11648).
The partnership priorities involve boosting cooperation on regional stability and security, including counter-terrorism, promoting economic security, sustainable, knowledge-based growth, high-quality education, job creation, strengthening democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights. The priorities will be reviewed before the end of 2018.
The compact includes mutual commitments by which the EU and Jordan will tackle the impact of the Syrian crisis in Jordan. The objective is to improve the living conditions both of Syrian refugees in Jordan, and of the vulnerable host communities. Jordan currently hosts 655,000 registered refugees. The compact provides for a pledge from the EU of at least €747 million for 2016-2017, including €108 million in humanitarian aid and €200 million in macrofinancial assistance. The macrofinancial aid was approved by the Council and European Parliament on 14 December 2016.
The EU signed a similar partnership and compact with Lebanon in mid-November (see EUROPE 11668). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)