European development ministers are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 7 May for a Foreign Affairs Council specifically devoted to development. They will discuss the recovery plan drawn up by Kyiv to benefit from EU financial aid (see EUROPE 13375/10), the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories and the EU’s engagement in fragile contexts or contexts that are politically estranged from its international partnerships.
Ukraine. The ministers will exchange views on the programme of reforms and investments that Ukraine has submitted to the European Commission under the ‘Ukraine Facility’, the EU instrument that will provide macro-financial assistance to Ukraine of up to €50 billion until 2027 (see EUROPE 13344/18).
This discussion should help to optimise coordination between institutions and EU Member States in monitoring the implementation of the programme in order to avoid duplication and an excessive administrative burden for the Ukrainian authorities. It will also aim to strengthen the link between the reconstruction of Ukraine and the EU’s security and defence policy.
Following the European Commission’s positive assessment in mid-April, the Council is due to adopt the Ukrainian programme in mid-May, potentially at the ‘Ecofin’ Council meeting on Tuesday 14 May. The sum of €6 billion has already been paid to Kyiv as bridging finance (see EUROPE 13398/47).
To see the Ukraine programme: https://aeur.eu/f/bq9
Palestine. The ministers will also exchange views on the humanitarian situation and reconstruction in the Palestinian territories in the light of recent events. On Monday, Israel began a military operation on Rafah.
According to Gaza’s civil defence, Israel shelled two neighbourhoods of Rafah after telling residents in the morning to evacuate and take refuge in “the expanded humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi”, according to AFP.
On Monday, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, described Israel’s evacuation orders as “unacceptable”, arguing on the social network ‘X’ that they “portend the worst: more war and famine”.
The United Nations has warned of the “catastrophic consequences” of a military invasion, highlighting the large number of children in Rafah: 600,000, according to UNICEF.
“Rafah is now a city of children, who have nowhere safe to go in Gaza”, said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on Monday.
The response of the EU and the Member States may be discussed, but the meeting is expected t focus on development cooperation, a European diplomat said on Monday.
The ministers will also assess how to support the Palestinian Authority’s reform programme. The latter recently launched a series of reforms by appointing a new Prime Minister, the economist Mohammad Mustafa, at the end of March.
International partnerships. Finally, the ministers will discuss an approach to ensure that the EU’s partner countries are able to respond to “factors of fragility”, said the Council of the EU in a press release. In addition, Estonia and Finland will present a joint non-paper on the implementation of the ‘Global Gateway’ strategy (see EUROPE 12844/7). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit & Mathieu Bion)