THE European Union (EU) has earmarked 30 million euros (approximately $5 billion) for programming in Jamaica up to 2027 despite the adverse impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The three priority areas for cooperation include digitalisation, climate change, and citizen security.

“Indeed, the 30 million euros may look little if we had 66 million euros in the past, but it will be topped up. We will only do that in the year 2024, when we know whether the money has been well used, well absorbed, well spent,” Marianne Van Steen, EU ambassador to Jamaica, said at a media breakfast on Wednesday in St Andrew.

In addition to the direct financial support to Jamaica, the country will continue to benefit from EU funding through regional and global instruments.

When quizzed on Jamaica’s use of EU funding over the years, Ambassador Van Steen stated that through the budget support framework, money is only disbursed when the Government hits agreed targets. She added that Jamaica’s public finance management system is up to par.

“Jamaica is a country where, in our bilateral cooperation, we have reached a point that we have trust in the Government… This is a country we can trust in, which you do not have in all the countries with which we cooperate,” she said.

For digitalisation, the EU will work with the Government to increase islandwide broadband coverage and support the integration of digital technology into the curricula of teacher training institutions. There are also plans to engage the private sector to digitally enhance service delivery in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. The climate change priority will focus on urban spaces while the citizen security programme will seek to strengthen preventative and protective measures to reduce crime.

Jamaica and the EU established diplomatic ties in 1975 and there is a steady push to move beyond the traditional donor-recipient model of partnership to achieve a higher level of political cooperation. Ambassador Van Steen argues that this is needed to tackle global challenges such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing pandemic and climate change in a sustainable way.

“The position that Jamaica has been taking in different United Nations fora [in relation to Russia’s invasion], now presenting the minister of foreign affairs [as a candidate] for secretary general of the Commonwealth – Jamaica believes in multilateralism and that is something that brings us close together,” Ambassador Van Steen said.