Commissioner Dubravka Šuica addressed the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee on November 6, 2025, emphasizing the importance of efficient spending of EU resources in the Mediterranean region to support peace, stability, and prosperity. She highlighted the EU's strategic role in external action policies, particularly focusing on the Palestinian territories and partnership agreements with Mediterranean countries.
EU Funding Focus and Conditionality
Šuica detailed the EU's significant yet limited financial commitment, such as the 400 million Euro emergency package in 2024 for Palestine, linked explicitly to reforms by the Palestinian Authority, and a comprehensive 1.6 billion Euro recovery program for 2025–2027, reinforcing conditionality on reform achievements. The Commissioner reiterated strict safeguards to prevent EU funds from supporting criminal or terrorist activities. Additionally, she outlined the EU’s Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership Agreements (SCPAs) with Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and forthcoming agreements with Morocco and the Gulf Countries, aimed at promoting reforms, boosting investments, and facilitating trade, especially benefiting SMEs and startups.
Accountability and Control Frameworks
The speech introduced the newly established DG MENA's Internal Control Framework, focused on risk management, financial accountability, compliance, and operational efficiency, with strategies for audits, verifications, and anti-fraud measures to be effective by year-end. These frameworks are designed to overcome challenges in conflict zones where direct access is restricted, ensuring EU funds are managed transparently and effectively.
Political and Stakeholder Implications
The proposal emphasizes increasing EU oversight and conditionality in external spending, affirming EU integration in foreign affairs versus national sovereignty of partner countries, especially in Palestine. For EU taxpayers and civil society, enhanced accountability promises better value for money and transparency. For partner governments like the Palestinian Authority, tighter conditionality demands reforms but may complicate funding continuity. EU businesses, particularly SMEs targeting Mediterranean markets, could benefit from improved business environments, but the strengthened controls may also raise compliance costs for implementing bodies and national authorities.
Overall, Commissioner Šuica’s speech outlines a policy direction marked by reinforcing EU control mechanisms and promoting reform-oriented financial support in the Mediterranean, aiming for tangible political and economic outcomes while navigating the complexities of conflict-affected regions.