The partnership between the European Union (EU) and Lebanon aims to promote Lebanon’s development as a stable, democratic, politically open and economically strong neighbouring country. The EU-Lebanon Association Agreement that entered into force on 1 April 2006 is the legal basis of the partnership with the EU.

The EU and Lebanon adopted Partnership Priorities in November 2016 for the period 2016-2020 as well as an annexed EU-Lebanon Compact identifying the most important reforms and development priorities and outlining mutual commitments and actions to address the impact of Syria crisis (see below).

Bilateral Cooperation

The European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) is the key EU financial instrument for cooperation in Lebanon. Bilateral aid follows multiannual programming with the Single Support Framework that defines the areas of focus for the EU assistance, in line with the Partnership Priorities.

For the period 2017-2020, the EU's bilateral assistance to Lebanon under the ENI, with an indicative allocation of €186.5 million-€227.9 million, is focused on the following three priority sectors:

• Promoting growth and job creation,
• Fostering local governance and socio-economic development and
• Promoting the Rule of Law, enhancing security.

The promotion and protection of human rights is an overarching theme, in line with the new European Consensus on Development. Transparency, accountability and the fight against corruption are pursued in all actions supported by bilateral cooperation.

Lebanon is eligible under the EU External Investment Plan and, through the EU blending mechanism “Neighbourhood Investment Platform”, has benefitted from EU grants (€50 million) that have leveraged total investments of €530 million, mainly via loans from the European Investment Bank and the Agence Francaise de Développement, in the sectors of water, roads and local urban development.

At the Paris CEDRE Conference (Conférence économique pour le développement du Liban par les réformes et avec les entreprises) on 6 April 2018, the EU announced a package of up to €150 million over three years, conditioned upon progress in reforms, to support the revitalisation of the Lebanese economy, which could generate up to €1.5 billion in loans for Lebanon.

The EU is supporting capacity development and civil society in Lebanon, in particular through the EU-Lebanon Roadmap for Engagement with Civil Society. Under the EU twinning tool, the Lebanese public administration is partnering with European administrations for mutual learning and capacity building through sharing of EU best practices. On-going twinning projects take place, for example in the sector of aviation security. Lebanese public administrations also benefits from the TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument) tool.

Regional Cooperation

In addition to bilateral cooperation programmes, Lebanon is also participating in regional and Neighbourhood-wide cooperation programmes under the ENI in the following sectors: security, economic cooperation, energy, environment, climate, transport, media, youth and culture.

Syrian refugee crisis

The EU has spearheaded the international response to the Syrian crisis, supporting actions both inside Syria and in the affected neighbouring countries, with over €20 billion mobilised by the EU and its Member States since 2011.

Lebanon and its people have been severely affected by the Syrian crisis, with  more than 892,000 refugees from Syria registered by  UNHCR (June 2020), or one in five people, which is the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. To help Lebanon manage the impact of the refugee crisis, the EU has allocated  a total of €2.3 billion assistance since 2011, including €411 million bilateral assistance. This total also includes €955 million non-humanitarian resilience assistance, channelled through the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, to help Lebanon cope with the refugee crisis, assist the refugees from Syria to strengthen their resilience and support them to become self-reliant. .  

The funding is helping national authorities, vulnerable people in host communities and Syrian refugees by:

• protecting the most vulnerable, both Lebanese and Syrians, meeting their most pressing humanitarian needs such as health, food, shelter, water and sanitation;
• assisting Syrian refugees, ensuring them decent living conditions and access to basic services, including through advocacy on their legal registration in the country;
• promoting economic growth and job creation for both Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees, notably through facilitating access to basic, vocational and higher education, supporting private sector development, and facilitating trade with the EU. The aim is to foster the inclusive socio-economic development of Lebanon and increase the refugees' contribution to its economic growth;
• reinforcing the capacities of Lebanese institutions responsible for responding to the Syrian crisis, at national and local levels, including by investing in the upgrading of infrastructure to cope with the additional pressure resulting from the refugee presence.

In the context of the Syrian crisis, the EU and Lebanon adopted an EU-Lebanon Compact (2016-2020). The Compact outlines mutual commitments and priority actions addressing the impact of the crisis and seeks to improve the living conditions of both refugees temporarily living in Lebanon and Lebanese citizens. At the Brussels I Conference (5 April 2017), the Brussels II Conference (24-25 April 2018) and the Brussels III Conference (12-14 March 2019) and the Brussels IV Conference (22-30 June 2020), the EU and the international community renewed their support to the critical efforts the Lebanese government and Lebanese citizens are undertaking in response to the crisis.

European Union programmes are aligned with priorities in the response plan of the Lebanese Government to the consequences of the influx of refugees from Syria.

UNRWA and Palestine refugees

Lebanon hosts around 202,000 Palestine refugees, and around 28,000 coming from Syria, and displaced for a second time. The country benefits from EU contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which in 2019 received EUR 145 million in commitments. In addition and in the context of the Syrian crisis, the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis is also supporting UNRWA with targeted actions to meet the needs of Palestine refugees displaced from Syria, to  an amount of €30,6 million.

Other financing instruments

Lebanon also receives a significant share of the EU's humanitarian assistance, especially to help meet the basic needs of refugees in the country.

The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights  and the thematic programme for 'Civil Society and Local Authorities' provide funding for civil society organisations in order to promote human rights and good governance and to strengthen participatory development and inclusion of all actors.

In the higher education sector, Lebanon also participates in the Erasmus+ programme, which supports modernisation of the sector and promotes mobility and co-operation with EU higher education institutions. In the framework of this programme, around 1,700 Lebanese students, professors and university staff travelled to Europe, and 800 European counterparts travelled to Lebanon between 2015 and 2018.

Factsheets available to download:

• Annual Opinion Survey results: 2020

Selected projects

	Training for Catering increases livelihood opportunities for locals and refugees in Lebanon
	Using tradition to build sustainable livelihoods in Lebanon