EU funding factfile

Date: 09/11/00

The European Union is the largest donor of non-military aid to the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP).

Over the past six years, it has given around €179 million a year on average in direct support to the Palestinian Authority, refugees and regional peace process projects.

The Union has also provided indirect support to the peace process, in the form of bilateral and regional aid worth more than €630 million, to Israel's four neighbouring countries (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt). The EU's total economic support on average totals more than €810 million a year in grants and EIB loans (€747 million in 1999).

The Union is also the biggest donor of financial and technical assistance to the Palestinian Authority, providing more than 50% of the international community's funding for the West Bank and Gaza Strip between 1994 and 1998 (grants and loans from the EU and member states during that period totalled €1.5 billion). Together with Norway, the Union co-chairs meetings of the international donor mechanism, the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians (AHLC).

EU assistance, including funds from member states, as regular budget support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, totalled €505 million in grants in 1994-1998. Total aid to the Palestinians for the period 1994-1998 amounted to €2 billion. Last week, the Union approved an environmental and sanitation project for refugee camps worth €14.6 million. Source: European Commission external relations website

The European Union is the largest donor of non-military aid to the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP).