The European Union decided to bring forward the first part of its 2013 assistance package for the Palestinian people to the beginning of the year. This means that €60 million will be allocated to the PEGASE mechanism, which supports the Palestinian National Development Plan, and €40 million will be allocated to UNWRA's 2013 regular budget in order to support its education, health, relief and social services programmes.

In order to ensure that the support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), who provide vital services to the Palestinian people, is not interrupted, the European Union decided to bring forward the first part of its 2013 assistance package. In October 2012, a new European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan was concluded between the EU and the Palestinian Authority.

€60 million will be allocated to the PEGASE mechanism, which supports the Palestinian National Development Plan by helping the PA to finance its budget deficit and implement its reform agenda, meet its obligations towards civil employees, pensioners and most vulnerable citizens, and maintain the functioning of the administration and the provision of essential public services to the population. This amount will contribute to the Palestinian Authority's payments of salaries and pensions for the first three months of 2013.

Also, the EU will allocate an initial amount of €40 million to UNWRA's 2013 regular budget (General Fund) in order to support the education, health, relief and social services programmes which UNWRA is responsible for providing for Palestine refugees in West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. In addition to the two components financed from the 2013 budget, a further amount of €2 million is allocated from 2012 funds to rebuild shelters for around 100 of the poorest Palestinian refugee families in Jordan's Jerash Refugee Camp.