The aim of this initiative is to better coordinate, at a strategic level, investment-related programmes launched by the EU in order to increase their impact. Eventually, this coordination should also cover programmes launched by EU Member States, finance institutions and other donors.

Coutries covered: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia

The AMICI initiative aims to optimise policy dialogue and cooperation among relevant actors and donors in the Southern Mediterranean with a view to providing more effective support to the partner countries. To achieve this, AMICI enhances coordination of public investment and private sector development initiatives, ensuring that investments in the region are better targeted to generate the highest possible socio-economic impact as well as to complement and support European and Partners Countries’ policy priorities in the region. Enhancing the joint visibility of the EU and the finance institutions is also an objective.

AMICI coordinates investment-related programmes in the following sectors:

• Economic governance, including macro-economic reform and public finance management;
• Inclusive economic development;
• Trade and private sector development/SMEs;
• Energy;
• Transport;
• Environment, water and sanitation.

To ensure that its support is as impactful as possible using existing structures, the AMICI coordination platform operates at various levels:

• at country level, where AMICI becomes part of the EU Development Counsellors platform;
• at EU/Member States level, where initiatives are regularly coordinated through the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) Committee in Brussels and the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF); and
• at regional/international level, involving the European Commission, the EEAS, Member States, European Financial Institutions, the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, partner countries, international finance institutions and other donors.

Comprehensive mapping of existing EU projects was launched in 2014 and updated in 2015.

This mapping has revealed a total of €26.9 billion of investment-related projects, with significant investment from EU public sources (EC, EU Member States, European finance institutions), about 80% of which was provided in the form of loans and financial instruments not usually captured in programming. It is important that this support be better linked, in support of policy reform, complementarity and coherence. In this regard, joint programming may open new possibilities for better coordination. 

There has been an increased use of the blending mechanism, with €190 million mobilised to leverage an estimated €2 billion in 2015 for infrastructure investments and SME access to finance. Furthermore, work has been ongoing with the UfM Secretariat to extend the range of sector dialogues in the region.

The need for increased joint visibility of the EU and the finance institutions is being addressed within the framework of the EU Initiative on Financial Inclusion. 

EU institution driving the initiative: DG NEAR