The initiative was taken to put an end to the controversy which had divided Europeans when Oliver Varhelyi, the commissioner responsible for neighborhood policy of the European Union (EU), declared, on October 9, that “all payments [de l’UE aux Palestiniens] are immediately suspended. Faced with the criticism that this announcement made on the X network, two days after the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, had aroused, the Commission decided to carry out an examination of development aid – humanitarian aid was not concerned – for the benefit of the Palestinians. It was, she explained, “ensure that no EU funding indirectly enables a terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel.”
Tuesday, November 21, the commissioners, meeting as a college, took note of the results of this analysis, which “did not identify any elements” showing that EU funds would have “directly or indirectly benefited [au] Hamas », declared Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis. They therefore gave the green light to the continuation of EU development aid to the Palestinians, which should represent 1.2 billion euros over the period 2021-2023. “The monitoring system in place worked and, therefore, the payment in favor of Palestinian beneficiaries and UNRWA [l’agence de l’ONU pour les réfugiés palestiniens] will continue »added the commissioner.
For the year 2023, the Commission has already paid 92 million euros to UNRWA. For the rest, it had planned, before the attacks of October 7, to transfer another 168 million euros which were to help the Palestinian Authority pay the salaries and pensions of certain civil servants in the West Bank, to support families poor people, particularly in Gaza, to pay the bills of seven hospitals in East Jerusalem and to reimburse the bills of NGOs established there. Of this sum, 75 million euros of aid, which was essentially intended to finance infrastructure in Gaza and, in the current context, no longer makes sense, will be reallocated.
“The debate was long and emotional”
“Our development assistance will continue and that is good news”, underlined Paolo Gentiloni, the Commissioner for the Economy, before recognizing that the college meeting on Tuesday had given rise to debates. The Commission’s decision to strengthen the controls which accompany its aid is not consensual. “The debate was long and emotional. The left-wing commissioners did not want additional controls”confides a source.
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