Brussels, 05/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - Margot Wallstrom, European Commissioner for the Environment and Civil Protection, will be in Galicia (Spain) on Friday to measure the environmental damage caused by the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige. Accompanied by Jaume Matas, Spanish Minister of the Environment, the Commissioner will get a more precise picture on the ground of the region's needs, the work accomplished by volunteers and NGOs engaged in the cleaning operation on the beaches, means deployed by the national and local authorities, and the support provided by experts in civil protection from other Member States, in the framework of enhanced co-ordinated co-operation by the Commission. Margot Wallstrom may brief the Environment Ministers of the Fifteen meeting for a Council in Brussels on Monday on this visit.