The EU is expected to give Eur 200 million ($230 million) to the reconstruction effort in Iraq, reported the London daily the Financial Times on 25 September. The sum is much less than expected and less than the amount given to Afghanistan after the Taliban was deposed. It is thought that the EU will commit the money at the upcoming donors conference in October. The announcement follows the 17 September visit to Iraq by the EU's External Affairs Commissioner Chris Pattern undertaken in order to assess the country's reconstruction needs (MEED 19:9:03).
Speaking on 22 September on the need to raise money for Iraq, Coalition Provisional Authority chief administrator Paul Bremer said that the World Bank had estimated the funds required to rebuild Iraq would be as high as $70,000 million. 'We poisoned the well in the lead-up to this war, and no-one expects the international community to pay more than $2,000 million or $3,000 million at the donors conference. That is a terrible indictment - of our foreign policy,' said US Senator Joseph Bidon after questioning Bremer on 24 September. 'It begs the question: where are we going to get the remaining $40,000 million to $50,000 million?'
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