The European Commission provides Egypt with a further €140 million under the 2009 ENPI Annual Action Programme
The European Commission will make available a package worth €140 million to Egypt within the 2009 Annual Action Programme under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument. In announcing the decision Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner said:
“This years' programme demonstrates our longstanding commitment to supporting reforms in the health sector, in particular improving primary health care for the benefit of the poorest members of society. In addition we are also supporting environmentally sustainable rural development for some of the poorest farmers and continuing the successful twinning projects between EU Member States governments and the Egyptian authorities. We will continue working in close partnership with the people and the government of Egypt to address the priorities jointly agreed in our Action Plan under the European Neighborhood Policy.”
Under this 2009 decision, the Commission will provide €110 million to support reforms of Primary Health Care, in particular the transition to the Family Health Model covering the upgrading of health facilities, training and retraining of staff and accreditation of health units. This is coherent with the wider health reforms encompassing closer partnership with the private sector and revised financing system with a Basic Benefits Package, to improve care and provide access to the poorest in society.
In addition, €20 million will be provided to reinforce the EC's ongoing twinning operations between the Egyptian authorities and EU Member States governments. There are currently 13 ongoing twinning operations and 5 a further 20 being prepared. The sectors covered so far include statistics, tourism, postal services, railway safety, water quality, road safety, telecommunications regulation, among others. Austria, France, Italy and Germany have been the main partners for these operations.
Finally, €10 million will be provided for a pilot project which would be the basis for a wider Rural Development Strategy for Egypt. The objective is to contribute to poverty reduction and socio-economic development for the rural poor. It will achieve this by improving land productivity, income and employment generation in an environmentally sustainable way.
EU–Egypt relations: basic facts
The EU-Egypt Association Agreement entered into force in June 2004 and provides the framework for the political, economic and social dimensions of the EU-Egypt partnership, having as its main goal the creation of a free trade area over a period of twelve years and the increase of economic growth.
The ENP Action Plan, adopted in March 2007, identifies reform priorities within Egypt’s own agenda of reforms. To support implementation of the Action Plan, The European Commission has agreed a €558 million package of financial support for Egypt for 2007 to 2010 under the European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument (ENPI).
