JERUSALEM, May 5, 2010 (WAFA)- Less than a month after a World Bank report called for improved sustainability and predictability of financial support by the donor community to the Palestinian Authority, the European Union is making its fifth contribution this year for the regular payment of Palestinian civil servants and pensioners in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This contribution of NIS 103,812,384 (€21 million), channelled through PEGASE, the European mechanism for support to the Palestinians, will benefit 80,576 civil servants and pensioners.

'I can confidently say that the European Union has risen to the challenge of providing sustainable and predictable support to the Palestinian Authority, in line with its commitment to help the Palestinian Authority provide essential services, such as health and education, to its population' said Mr. Christian Berger, the European Union Representative.

The World Bank's Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee, issued on 12 April, clearly highlights that 'the PA will continue to be dependent upon donor financing of its operating budget for some time to come, while it implements an ambitious reform agenda. (…) The 2010 budget commits the PA to reducing its recurrent deficit to about US$1.2 billion while also increasing development expenditures to US$670 million. Lack of predictability in external financing jeopardizes the ability of the PA to efficiently manage its expenditures and thus consolidate the gains made to date.'

PEGASE channels EU assistance to help build a Palestinian State, in accordance with the priorities and needs identified by the Palestinian Authority in its three year reform and development programme (PRDP). Launched by the European Commission on 1 February 2008, it is the main financing mechanism of the European Union. As well as helping the PA to meet a substantial proportion of its running costs, European funds support major reform and development programmes in key ministries, to help prepare the Palestinian Authority for statehood in line with the plan proposed in August 2009 by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Since 2007 the EU has provided total assistance to the Palestinian people, including civil society organizations and refugees, averaging more than €500 million annually.