E.U. promises swift delivery of aid, trade help for victims
E.U. promises swift delivery of aid, trade help for victims
Agencies, Brussels
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Tuesday
promised quick delivery of European Union aid for tsunami victims
in Asia and said the 25-nation bloc would also be taking trade
action to help countries affected by the catastrophe.
EU aid worth 450 million euros (US$589 million), backed by
European Investment Bank loans worth one billion euros, would be
delivered to disaster-hit countries on time, the Commission chief
promised.
"The challenge for the E.U. and for donors across the world is
to turn our tsunami pledges into hard cash.... Promises are not
enough," Barroso told the European Parliament as quoted by DPA.
The EU would send rapid emergency assistance worth 100 million
euros, followed swiftly by 350 million euros for long-term
rehabilitation and reconstruction, he said.
However, lawmakers have argued that governments will have to
increase the EU's 105 billion euros annual budget if it wants to
meet that pledge, or face cuts in other sectors, possibly
including aid to African countries.
But the EU assured poor African countries their plight would
not be ignored just because the bloc is currently centering its
emergency aid on the tsunami victims in Asia.
"The poor across the world will not pay the price of this
disaster," Barroso said as quoted by AFP. "Clearly the priority
of the EU is and will be Africa."
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who currently
holds the EU presidency, agreed.
"I hope we will be more aware of the fact that the poverty and
misery we see today should not make us forget the poverty,
underdevelopment and injustice elsewhere," he told the
legislature.
"Our hearts should be where the television cameras have left
or have never been," he said.
Outlining a series of additional actions, Barroso said the EU
was also reflecting on ways of using trade measures to provide
relief for regions and businesses affected by the devastating
tsunami.
These could include a suspension of anti-dumping duties
imposed on affected countries, re-orientating trade-related
assistance to states and fast-tracking the adoption and
implementation of a new tariff-cutting plan -- known as the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) -- for Sri Lanka,
Indonesia, Thailand and India.
Help for the region's fisheries and aquaculture sector was
also under consideration, he said.
Barroso added that the EU was planning to reinforce its civil
protection assistance program which mobilizes national experts
and equipment including medical teams and relief supplies such as
tents, bottled water, water purification and sanitation equipment
at short notice following a disaster.
The Dec. 26 tsunami disaster has cost the lives of at least
153,000 people and the European Parliament is assessing this week
where the bloc will get money to back long-term aid pledges
Barroso made last week.
The 25 EU governments are expected to give their approval at
the next EU finance ministers meeting, Jan. 18.