The European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee has approved Amendment 44, tabled by MEPs Alice Teodorescu Måwe, Lukas Mandl, Andrey Kovatchev, Miriam Lexmann, Niclas Herbst, and Antonio López Istúriz White, regarding the 2025 EU budget for the Southern Neighbourhood.
This amendment stipulates that funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be contingent upon significant reforms to its educational curriculum.
Under the amendment, €20 million will be reserved until the PA introduces educational materials that promote peace, coexistence, and tolerance with the Jewish-Israeli people in accordance with UNESCO standards. The PA must also remove any antisemitic content and incitement to violence from its textbooks.
The amendment reiterates the committee’s longstanding position that salaries for civil servants involved in education, funded by the EU, must meet these standards. Previous reports have raised concerns about problematic content in Palestinian textbooks.
If the Palestinian Authority does not implement the necessary changes, the reserved funds will remain unallocated for an additional academic year. This decision aligns with the EU’s broader strategy to combat antisemitism and emphasizes its commitment to promoting peace in the region.
