Brussels, 23/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - In order to meet growing humanitarian needs in Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, €410.7 million allocated to other EU budget lines will be transferred. On Monday 22 July, the EU Council approved, without debate, two transfers of a total amount of €262.7 million in commitments and €148 million in payments for the humanitarian cause in the above countries.
Syrian crisis. €247.7 million in commitments and €140 million in payments will be transferred from different budget lines within heading 4 (“global Europe”) and the emergency aid reserve for humanitarian aid in Syria. A further €2.3 million are intended to be allocated from the operational reserve for humanitarian aid, bringing the total additional humanitarian assistance from the EU budget to €250,000 million (other than emergency humanitarian assistance funded from the budget of ECHO, the European Commission's humanitarian aid service). This amount is part of the total additional support of €400 million proposed by the Commission for the crisis-affected population in Syria.
African crises. €15 million in commitments and €8 million in payments will be transferred from the emergency aid reserve in order to provide humanitarian aid and respond the increased needs of the two interlinked crises of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. (AN/transl.jl)