(Русский язык) Иордания заметно прогрессирует в реформах – Евросоюз (ЕС)

By Hani Hazaimeh

AMMAN – Jordan has made substantial progress in various areas in 2009, especially those related to political reform, governance and transparency, the European Union (EU) said in a report released on Wednesday.

The EU Commission yesterday released the “neighbourhood package”, which entails an overall assessment of five years of implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), 12-country reports on developments in 2009, including one on Jordan, and a sector report.

The “ENP Country Progress Report 2009 – Jordan” highlighted major steps taken by the government over the past year aimed at enhancing the various aspects of political and social development.

The EU said the Kingdom witnessed significant progress in the area of governance and transparency last year, citing the launch of the Ombudsman Bureau and the code of conduct recently adopted by the government, which was interpreted as an attempt to streamline the relationship between the government and the media.

At a press conference yesterday, EU Ambassador to Jordan Patrick Renault said the report is very positive and showed that Jordan is on the right track, adding that the negotiations between the two sides regarding the Kingdom’s request for advanced status are going in the right direction.

“The talks… reflect Jordan’s high ambitions. The EU will act accordingly… in a stronger and higher manner,” said the EU envoy, noting that last week the minister of planning and international cooperation held constructive talks with senior EU officials in Brussels in that direction.

Renault underlined that the next few months will be decisive with regards to the advanced status discussions, noting that Štefan Füle, commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, will visit Jordan at the end of May for talks with officials.

According to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the two sides are expected to finalise the advanced status discussions and a final decision is expected to be taken during the last quarter of this year.

The report also underlined progress made in the areas of human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as women’s protection against domestic violence and equal treatment, the rights of the child and the fight against human trafficking.

Moreover, some progress was made in the fields of transport, renewable energy, and science and technology, it noted.

“In November 2009, King Abdullah dissolved the Parliament and called for anticipated elections. A new government was appointed in December, tasked with an ambitious reform programme notably touching upon economic recovery and development of key sectors such as energy and transport, good governance, transparency and efficiency of public service, decentralisation and citizen participation,” the report said.

With regards to political dialogue and governance, the report said Jordan was ranked as performing far better than most countries in the region regarding perception of corruption, adding that the prime minister pledged “zero tolerance” for corruption, which constitutes a top priority of the government.

Although the report said a revised and partially improved “Associations Act” (administrative and legal framework for NGOs) entered into force, Renault said “it can be better”.

Furthermore, the EU report noted that the definition of torture under the Jordanian legislation was brought in line with the UN Convention Against Torture, adding that the Kingdom advanced in the international indexes on press freedom.

Irene Mingasson, head of the EC Operations Section in Amman, said a three-year cooperation programme between Jordan and the EU has been adopted. She added that an average of 70 million euros will be spent annually over the next three years, starting 2011, to support the government’s efforts in enhancing human resources, employment, education and capacity building.

She added that the programme also focuses on political reform, trade and enterprise development as well as areas of sustainable development of priority sector.