Progress Report on the Occupied Palestinian Territory 2009

Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - April 30, 2009 - Back to Resources Page [1]

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and the European Community first established contractual
relations in 1997 when the EC and the PLO, on behalf of the PA, signed the Interim
Association Agreement on Trade and Cooperation. On this basis, the EU-PA ENP Action
Plan was adopted in May 2005, for a period of three to five years. It was inspired by the
Palestinian Reform Programme at that time, which aimed at building the institutions of an
independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state. A first report on the implementation of
the Action Plan was adopted in December 2006, a second in April 2008.

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership inaugurated at the 1995 Barcelona conference
established a policy with ambitious and long-term objectives. This partnership was reinforced
in 2008 with the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean. Although the Palestinian state
has not yet been created, the PA has been a full participant in this partnership from the
beginning. However, the PA does not exercise exclusive governmental prerogatives because
of the on-going Israeli occupation.

This document reports on progress made on the implementation of the EU-PA ENP Action
Plan between 1 January and 31 December 2008, although developments outside this period
are also considered when deemed relevant. It is not a general review of the political and
economic situation in the oPt.

The overall political context stalled progress in the implementation of the Action Plan during
2006 and the first half of 2007. This changed after the EU resumed normal relations with the
PA in June 2007 and re-established political dialogue. The first ENP Joint Committee session
since three years took place in May 2008 and agreed to set up four subcommittees.
The year 2008 saw some progress in several of the areas covered by the ENP Action Plan.
The PA undertook steps to implement its Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP)
for 2008. The PRDP process itself, as well as the policy objectives embedded in it, provided
much improvement in the PA's planning and budgeting efforts and addressed most of the
areas covered by the Action Plan. Most notable progress was achieved in the fields of budget
consolidation and security sector reform.

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Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - April 30, 2009 - Back to Resources Page [1]