MAJURO — The Marshall Islands is well-positioned to get its share, and more, of European Union funding, according to the Marshall Islands European Union representative.
Surendra Sharma, who is based in Brussels, the headquarters for the EU, was here this week and said that the Marshall Islands will be ready to begin accessing funding from the EU as soon as the required two-thirds of the European members of the EU formally approve the new “Contonou agreement,” which is expected to happen later this year.
Marshall Islands officials are “adjusting” the nation’s draft “country support strategy” in response to recommendations from EU officials to have it ready for implementation as soon as the EU approval process is completed and funding available, Sharma said.
The Marshall Islands initially focused its planned EU aid entirely on education developments, but Pacific EU officials based in Fiji strongly encouraged the Marshall Islands to join other Pacific islands in focusing on alternative energy development.
Sharma said the Marshall Islands is keen to have a smooth start to funding from the EU, because this first five-year funding cycle is short — reduced to fewer than three years because of the time it is taking to get the necessary approval by two-thirds of all participating nations since the mid-2000 signing of the Contonou Agreement. And Sharma is confident that many countries involved will not use up their funding allotments so that there will be additional funding for those who are quick to implement their country support strategies.
“We’ll still go for education,” he said of the initial draft country support strategy of the Marshall Islands. “But we’ll incorporate alternative energy as part of the school development on the outer islands.”
Six Pacific nations, including the Marshall Islands, have recently joined the EU, but the regional EU office in Suva, Fiji has no new support staff. “We don’t want to create an added burden,” he said, noting that all six countries have agreed to go with alternative energy-related programs.
“Those who are more efficient at utilizing funding can go for more funding at the mid-term (2003),” he said. The $1.5 million country allotment is the smallest amount available, he said.
Many African nations don’t use all of their large amounts of funding, and the unused money goes into a pool that is available to other countries, he indicated. “If we’ve completed our projects and used our funding by the mid-term, we can access more,” Sharma said.
He estimates that by mid-July, the Marshall Islands’ country support strategy should be ready to submit. “We haven’t lost any time because it will be in place by the time the EU ratification process is completed,” he said.
