Goal to relaunch economy for security and slow migration
BRUSSELS – The European Union has proposed a new agenda for the Mediterranean with a seven-billion-euro plan to stimulate the economy of Mediterranean partner countries in recovery from the Covid crisis, as well as face political instability and slow the causes of the push on irregular migration, aiming at a green transition as well as young people and women.
Investments in the 10 countries of the southern partnership (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia) will be financed by the EU’s new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), which will allocate up to seven billion euros for the 2021-2027 EU budget period.
The funds could mobilise up to 30 billion euros in private and public investment in the region in the next decade.
“Europe wants to contribute directly to a long-term vision of prosperity and stability of the region, especially in the social and economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis,” said EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi.
He said new investments in the Brussels programme aim to restore security in the area – “the greatest challenge that has arisen since the Arab Spring” – and fight “irregular migration”.
