The European Commission announced a new assistance package for Jordan will provide critical support to education, renewable energy and the implementation of the country's European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan. With this package, the Commission intends to provide new training for teachers and help to build new centres for special needs education.

The assistance package presented by the European Commission within the European Neighbourhood Policy with Jordan consists in €71 million to improve the education and sustainable energy in such country. According to the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, these two areas are vitally important for a country's growth. This package constitutes part of the National Indicative Programme 2011-2013 for Jordan under which assistance for an amount of €223 million will be provided and in the framework of the new European Neighbourhood Policy presented in May 2011.

With regard to the first point of the programme, the education, the new funds provided will help to build new centres for special needs education, and enable children living in some of Jordan's poorest areas to have access to preschool education besides new training for teachers. In addition, the EU funds will contribute to improve the Ministry of Education's monitoring and evaluation procedures, through the introduction of a new education management information system.

To the second purpose of this programme it will invest 35 of the €70 millions provided by the Commission. In particular, the Sectoral Budget Support programme will focus on the development and implementation of effective renewable energy policies. This will provide the necessary support to roll-out the 2007-2020 energy strategy, which aims to achieve the ambitious goals of 10% production from renewable energies and 20% energy savings by 2020.

A part of the assistance package will provide various Jordanian institutions with technical assistance and twinning activities, which means a close partnership between an EU member state institution and that of the beneficiary country (including the provision of long-term seconded experts) in order to develop modern and efficient administrations. It will also set up 'Twinning' programmes, amongst other things, where experts from Member States carry out secondments in the Jordanian Government to share knowledge and skills.