Brussels, 20/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs Council on Monday took stock of the situation prevailing in Mozambique and in the neighbouring region (including Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa) following the recent flooding which has been one of the most serious catastrophes in recent years. In the Conclusions adopted, the Fifteen: a) note the results of the mission conducted in Mozambique, from 2 to 4 March, by the president of the Development Council, Portuguese Secretary of State Amado and by Commissioner Nielson, with a view to assessing the magnitude of damage and identifying priority needs; b) note that the EU and its Member States have already provided emergency humanitarian aid of EU 85 million (during the sitting, the Commission spoke of EUR 91 million) as well as additional aid in kind, which represents the major share of international contributions reported by the United Nations, i.e. EUR 115 million (118 million, according to the sum quoted during the session). The Council was also pleased to note the generous solidarity shown by the citizens of the European Union; c) recognise that the role of relief coordination falls mainly on the relevant Mozambique government departments, in liaison with the UN agencies. The Council stressed in this respect the imperative need to guarantee effective coordination in order to prevent duplication of effort and to ensure the aid provided has maximum impact; d) recognise that this disaster is likely to have a broader impact on the economy and development of Mozambique, which is why they endorse the two-stage approach adopted by the Mozambique government, consisting of meeting immediate needs for relief while working to rehabilitate affected areas and to ensure both macro-economic stability and the maintenance of ongoing programmes of development assistance; e) note that, to this end, several EC Member Sates have already announced an additional EUR 66.5 million for rehabilitation aid and budgetary support, as well as EUR 156 million for debt relief (noting in passing that EUR 100 million were allocated to Mozambique in 1999 under the Community cooperation programme for which EUR 150 million should be disbursed in 2000; f) ensure that the EU and its Member States will continue to play an active part, in Maputo, in the coordination of rehabilitation being led by the Mozambique government, and look forward to making a positive contribution to the donor conference to beheld in Rome at the end of April/beginning of May.