EU parliamentary delegation concludes visit

AMMAN — As an EU parliamentary delegation concluded its visit to Jordan on Wednesday, its members highlighted the union’s “deep commitment” to closer cooperation with the Kingdom, particularly in the education sector.

The delegation for Relations with the Mashreq countries was headed by Marisa Matias (Portugal), with the membership of Gilles Pargneaux (France), Francese Gambus (Spain), Javier Nart (Spain) and Miguel Viegas (Portugal).

During its three-day visit, the delegation has met with His Majesty King Abdullah, senior government officials, representatives of Parliament and a number of non-governmental organisations. 

In addition, the tour included visits to EU-funded projects focusing on health, education and job creation in Palestinian and Syrian refugee camps, as well as in the host communities of Syrian refugees.

“The intensive mission sought to assess the challenges that Jordanian people are facing,” said Matias in a briefing to journalists at the EU premises in Amman on Wednesday, noting that the delegation of five represents EU parliamentarians from different political groups.

She emphasised that Jordan is a “close strategic” partner of the EU, adding that the current extensive bilateral relations will continue in the future.

“We praise the considerable efforts that Jordanian authorities have done and still do in hosting Syrian refugees, in addition to the big community of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, and the increased need of resources after the Syrian crisis,” Matias said.

The Mashreq delegation recognised the domestic challenges Jordan is facing while coping with the increasing demands following the Syrian crisis, namely access to water, waste management, infrastructures and health services.

She said two EU parliament delegations have visited Jordan in 2016, one in May for setting the EU budget and another in September to observe the parliamentary elections.

“From what we have been seeing, it is our aim to call for further deepening of the EU-Jordan relations on the political, economic, cultural and societal levels,” Matias said.

She said the EU is also keen on enhancing cooperation with Jordan to better address the country’s most urgent challenges, namely the joint fight against terrorism and regional challenges, including the Middle East peace process and Jordan’s efforts to reinitiate dialogue efforts in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Matias added that the use of military power alone to fight terrorism has proved its inefficiency, noting that an approach based on human rights and offering social and economic solutions to the difficulties people are facing is more efficient.

The delegation also recognised the important role Jordan is playing in international efforts to bring the Syrian crisis to an end.

Matias underlined education as a key tool to fight radicalisation and prevent a lost generation, emphasising the EU’s efforts to keep supporting Jordan in this field. In addition, the delegation commended the efforts exerted to allow access to education for over 165,000 Syrian children.

As for the EU Macro Financial Assistance (MFA), members of the delegation acknowledged the concerns expressed by the Jordanian stakeholder towards the high level of conditionality, and underlined the need for more adequate rules of origin. 

Matias added that the delegation will do anything possible to avoid any reductions in the EU budget’s allocations to support Jordan, if not increase the support.

Gilles, who is also the vice-chair of the delegation, said the partnership between the EU and Jordan can be taken to another level by creating a bilateral economic model in a field like renewable energy. 

He added that the EU parliament and the Jordanian Parliament and Senate are studying the formation of a joint parliamentarian committee.