On Monday 14 April, at the first ever high-level political dialogue between the EU and the Palestinian Authority (PA), the European Commission announced a multiannual programme worth up to €1.6 billion for the recovery and resilience of the PA.
“The Palestinian Authority is the only legitimate form of government in Palestine. We need to strengthen it and prepare it for the necessary reconstruction work and the search for a two-State solution”, explained Irish Minister Simon Harris, while his Belgian counterpart Maxime Prévot felt that “a strong Palestinian Authority is the way to avoid a strong Hamas”.
The European Commission’s plan, which will cover the period 2025-2027, focuses on support for services for the Palestinian people, support for the recovery and stabilisation of the West Bank and Gaza, and support for the private sector.
Around €620 million in direct aid grants to the PA budget should support services for Palestinians and meet the most urgent needs of the public administration. Most of the disbursements will be linked to progress in the PA’s reforms in the areas of fiscal sustainability, democratic governance, private sector development and public infrastructure and services.
“The Palestinian National Authority is facing extremely difficult circumstances and is carrying out its reforms with great care, under enormous pressure”, praised the Spanish Minister, José Manuel Albares.
€576 million in grants will be allocated to support concrete projects on the ground to promote economic recovery and resilience in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, as soon as the situation on the ground allows. The focus will be on water, energy and infrastructure. From these funds, the Commission intends to allocate €82 million a year to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Finally, the Commission will support new financing for the Palestinian private sector through European Investment Bank (EIB) loans of up to €400 million, subject to the approval of the EIB’s governing bodies.
The EU is also pushing Israel to pay the Palestinian Authority the tax revenues that the Jewish State collects for the Palestinians. This would be worth $2 billion.
In addition, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, announced the launch of a donor platform dedicated to Palestine “in a few weeks’ time”. “This platform will enable the PA to present the implementation of its reform programme and will guarantee total transparency in the implementation of the programme”, she said.
The platform should also provide an opportunity to discuss the key elements of future engagement in Gaza and to coordinate international efforts for its recovery and reconstruction, as soon as conditions allow, the Commission said in its press release. “The EU will be present, but we cannot be alone. We therefore expect the Arab countries to participate”, explained Dubravka Šuica. According to High Representative of the Union Kaja Kallas, the EU, through its Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories, EUPOL COPPS, currently deployed in the West Bank, could also support the creation of a civilian police force in Gaza in due course.
Recognise the State of Palestine. At the end of the first-ever EU-Palestine high-level dialogue, the High Representative of the Union denounced the humanitarian situation in Gaza (see other news) and the “worrying” situation in the West Bank, reiterating Europe’s opposition to Israel’s settlement policy. While denouncing the violence of certain settlers, Mrs Kallas acknowledged that there was no unanimity for imposing additional sanctions against them.
For his part, the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Mustafa, called for Israel to be held accountable for the crimes committed in Gaza. “Silence only inspires impunity, and this must stop”, he warned.
While Mrs Kallas reiterated that all EU Member States were in favour of a two-State solution, Mr Mustafa felt that this had to be translated into leadership and required the 16 EU countries that had not yet done so to recognise the Palestinian State “as soon as they can”. The Prime Minister announced that “several” Member States, including France, could recognise his country at the United Nations Conference on Palestine in New York in June.
Mrs Kallas also promised that the EU would explore the possibility of Palestinians, who request to, taking part in the Horizon Europe programme.
See the statement by Mrs Kallas published at the end of the dialogue: https://aeur.eu/f/gf0 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)