Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said in Brussels that reports from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United Nations of his administration's readiness to govern amounted to "a birth certificate" for statehood. Fayyad made the claim after the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, had said in a report that the Palestinian Authority (PA) was "sufficient for a functioning government of a state." Fayyad attended a meeting of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee of Western donor in Brussels chaired by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, along with an Israeli government official. The meeting backed the assessment by the UN, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The committee cited reports prepared for it by the three institutions as saying that the Palestinian Authority is "above the threshold for a functioning state in the key sectors they studied." The UN report focused on institutions and infrastructure — aspects such as governance, human rights, education and water. "In six areas where the UN is most engaged, governmental functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state," it said.
Fayyad said the Brussels talks amounted to "a landmark event" after participants "effectively recognized the reality of a state of Palestine." Wednesday’s meeting, hosted by EU foreign policy chief and Vice-President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton, was also attended by Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair. It is the first in a series of donor meetings planned for 2011. Blair said "credible political negotiations" were needed on a "very urgent" basis to "revive the political process."
"The state-building effort has gained renewed momentum since 2009 when Prime Minister Fayyad set forth the vision and the path for Palestinian statehood based on a plan that the EU has supported both politically and financially. But these achievements can be sustainable only if they are matched with progress in the peace talks," said Ashton, adding: “The EU will continue to make every effort to achieve progress on comprehensive peace in the Middle East because this is more important than ever in the current context of unrest in the wider Middle East region.” She said the EU had allocated € 300 million (US$ 435 million) this year for Palestinian institution-building.
Ashton and Fayyad also signed a duty-free agreement which will give the Palestinians immediate access, for a transitional period of ten years, to the EU market to all agricultural products, processed agricultural and fishery products originating in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. “Facilitating Palestinian trade is a crucial element of the state building process which the EU is supporting both politically and financially. This agreement is the tangible expression of our support,” Ashton declared.
Irit Ben-Abba, an Israeli economic affairs ministry official, said progress on governance was mainly down to Israeli customs and treasury action, and said Palestinian exporters already benefitted from free-trade deals negotiated by Israel.
The positive assessment by the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee came despite the fact that the Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas, which the EU and Israel consider a terrorist group.
