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The Commission is reinforcing its partnership with Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), which have constitutional links to Denmark, France and The Netherlands, based on jointly agreed priority areas. To underpin this cooperation, the Commission has adopted a financial contribution of €385.4 million for the period 2021-27 to support partnerships based on agreed priorities with cooperation 10 OCTs: Aruba, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, New Caledonia, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten as well as a regional Pacific OCT programme.

Commissioner for International Partnership, Jutta Urpilainen, recently said:

“I am delighted to see how we are forging ahead our EU-OCT partnership. From the Arctic to the North Atlantic, from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, the OCTs are privileged partners of the EU. Together, we will address todays' most pressing challenges – climate action, biodiversity loss and the COVID-19 pandemic – while securing shared prosperity and fostering human development, in particular for the youth through better quality education. Today, we set out our vision of long-term support for greener and more resilient OCTs. This means clean energy and water, quality jobs, reaping digital benefits, all underpinned by comprehensive human development to truly foster each individual's potential.”

New partnerships, jointly agreed with OCT authorities, will include projects to improve learning and skills (Greenland), digitalisation (Aruba), water management (French Polynesia) and clean energy (New Caledonia, Saba and Sint Maarten), but also nature-friendly cultural tourism (Saint Pierre et Miquelon), sustainable agriculture (Sint Eustatius, Pacific), disaster risk management (Saint Barthélemy) and protection of natural habitats and the oceans (The French Southern and Antarctic Lands). The EU will also launch an EU-OCT Youth Network in 2022.

The agreed priorities are in line with UN's 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and EU priorities, such as the Green Deal and the Digital Agenda. In addition, many of them will also support the effective implementation of the Global Gateway strategy.

Click here for the full press release