The European Union executive is under growing pressure to disburse €225 million ($240 million) for Palestinian public services, with France among those fighting an attempt by the European Commission to condition part of the funding on changes to textbooks that some commissioners have linked to antisemitism.
Sixteen EU countries voted against the commission’s latest spending proposal for 2021-2023 on Monday, which “envisaged” a “supplementary financial allocation” of €12.5 million in exchange for “significant progress” on an education sector road map comprising “policy dialogue, continuous engagement and incentives, including curriculum development and textbook review.”
That language was another attempt to convince member states to back the idea of including education sector reform along with public finance, water, and energy as areas subject to incentive-based funding, after similar proposals in December and March were rejected.