The new European mechanism, PEGASE, will pay NIS 121 million (€ 22 million) today in favour of 74,000 Palestinian public service providers and pensioners. Launched by the European Commission on 1 February 2008, PEGASE channels EU and international assistance to help build a Palestinian State. “PEGASE will provide greater stability and predictability to our action as the largest donors to the Palestinians and emphasize the ownership of the Palestinian Authority in the process of reforms and development”, Benita Ferrero-Waldner Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy said, when PEGASE was announced in Brussels last week. PEGASE is the main financing mechanism of the European Union, the largest donor to the Palestinians; it is open to contributions from donors wishing to channel funds to the Palestinian population in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza. PEGASE builds on the successes of the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) through which more than NIS 3.39 billion (€ 616 million) were made available since June 2006. As under the TIM, the PEGASE contribution will be added to this month’s payment of salaries and pensions by the Palestinian Ministry of Finance. This payment is made possible by funds from the European Commission. PEGASE has a wide-ranging scope and delivers support to the four pillars of the Reform and Development Plan of the Palestinian Authority: governance, social development, economic and private sector development and public infrastructure.
