Brussels, 09/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission approved an emergency aid programme of EUR 180 million for Serbia, which represents the practical implementation of the large part of the EUR 200 million aid package proposed by the Commission to the European Council of Biarritz and then approved by the Council and Parliament. The Commission considers the aid should begin to reach Serbia within two weeks. The remaining EUR 20 million will be used for humanitarian aid for refugees and persons in difficulty.
The EUR 180 million aid programme, as announced by the Commission, will allow Serbia to be provided with energy sources, mainly for heating, as well as medicine and food aid. It will also be used to continue and strengthen the Commission programmes in support of schools, municipalities and the media. Aid should initially be administered by the European Commission delegation in Belgrade. The responsibility will then be transferred to the European Agency for Reconstruction.
EUROPE has reason to believe that there have been discussions within the Commission on the legal base used for this emergency aid, in this case the Obnova programme (aid to reconstruction of former Yugoslavia). After clarification of the various points (humanitarian aid among other things), and given the urgency caused by the situation on one hand and the EP and Council agreement on the other, the Commission finally concluded that all the aspects of this emergency aid could be included within the framework of the Obnova programme.