EU, Netherlands contribute to Palestinian Authority Jan 2013 payroll – EU press release/Non-UN document

The EU and the Netherlands contribute around €20.8 million
to the Palestinian Authority’s payment of January salaries and pensions

Press Release

PR/05/2013

Jerusalem

20 FEBRUARY 2013The European Union is making today a contribution of approximately €20.8 million to the payment of the January salaries and pensions of around 83,500 Palestinian civil servants and pensioners in the West Bank and the Gaza  Strip. This contribution, which is channelled through the PEGASE^[1] mechanism, is being funded by the European Union (€20.0 million) and the Government of the Netherlands (c.€0.8 million earmarked specifically for PA salaries in the Justice sector).

“The European Union’s €20 million contribution comes from the 2013 assistance package to the Palestinian people. At the request of Prime Minister Fayyad, the European Union agreed to frontload €60 million to support the Palestinian Authority in meeting its recurring expenditure at the beginning of the year. This is consistent with the European Union’s commitment to being a regular and reliable donor”, said the EU Representative Mr. John Gatt-Rutter. “The contribution by the Dutch Government is part of its on-going support for the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people and I would like to thank our Dutch partners for using the PEGASE financial mechanism once again”, the EU Representative added.

Background

Most of the European Union’s assistance to the Palestinian Authority is channelled through PEGASE, the financial mechanism launched in 2008 to support the PA Reform and Development Plan (2008-2010) and the subsequent PA Palestinian National Plan (2011-2013). As well as helping to meet a substantial proportion of its running costs, European funds support major reform and development programmes in key ministries, to help prepare the PA for statehood in line with the plan put forward by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in August 2009. Since February 2008, around €1.4 billion have been disbursed through the PEGASE Direct Financial Support programmes. In addition, the EU has provided assistance to the Palestinian people through UNRWA and a wide range of cooperation projects.

^[1]Mécanisme Palestino-Européen de Gestion de l'Aide Socio-Economique (PEGASE)

Contacts:  

The Office of the European Union Representative:

Antonia Zafeiri (02 5415 859, 0548 024 915) & Shadi Othman (02 5415 867, 0599 673 958)

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/westbank/