Following Commissioner Várhelyi’s response of 6 November 2020 to our Written Question of 18 May 2020 (E-003051/2020) and the announcement of the EU’s ‘critically-minded review’ of the nature of the EU funds’ use, we would like to ask the Commission:

What is the status of the investigation into the safeguards in place, and of the individual cases of alleged misuse or deviation of EU funds in Palestine?

The EU holds a clear notion of the purpose of its funds and the principles that govern their application. Articles 16 and 17 of the proposal for a regulation establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument provide for allocation criteria applicable to the countries of the Neighbourhood based on, inter alia, ‘commitment to and progress in building deep and sustainable democracy’ and ‘progress towards democracy, human rights, rule of law, cooperation on migration, economic governance and reforms’.

How does the Commission intend to implement these principles on the ground?

Read the answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission.