Brussels, 11/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday the College of Commissioner in Strasbourg examined EU aid for southern Asia, which has been devastated by the tsunami. It also looked at addition action that the Commission could initiate to increase this aid. Under the guidance of José Manuel Barroso, the discussion received ideas from each of the Commissioners: Benita Ferrero-Waldner; external relations, Stavros Dimas; civil protection; Louis Michel; development and humanitarian aid; Dalia Grybauskaite; budget, in an effort to obtain a suitable response to the different aspects of this tragedy. Main actions: civil protection resources: the Commission plans to strengthen the Community system currently mobilising national resources provided by Member States
EU rapid response capacity: at the Council's request, the Commission is reflecting on how to reinforce this capacity. Françoise Le Bail, the Commission spokesperson at the end of the discussion said that by ensuring good cost efficiency and avoiding duplication of jobs and wasteful substitution of system already in palace, the main thrust would emphasise co-ordination of the national systems, with added European value. She said that the Commission was hoping for a proposal at the General Affairs/External Relations Council on 31 January.
Financial aid: On Tuesday, the Commission decided to make EUR 14 million available in the context of the call for funding from the World Food Programme (WFP). It is expected that the Commission's contribution, according to estimates, will allow 30,000 tonnes of cereals to be provided for the tsunami victims. The EUR 14 million is part of the Community's allocation of EUR 450 million pledged in disaster relief. In order to meet the humanitarian crisis in Asia, the European Commission adopted, on 5 January, its proposal aimed at releasing emergency aid of EUR 100 million. Both branches of the budgetary authority (Parliament and Council) are expected to approve the proposal at the end of the week. A first instalment of EUR 23 million had been released during the first week after the disaster in order to cover the emergency relief operations of the Red Cross, UN agencies and NGOs.
The remaining EUR 350 million in the Community allocation already pledged is to be paid out over three years for reconstruction and rehabilitation of disaster-stricken areas. According to the Commission, EUR 130-150 million from this amount may be made available from funding already included in the Community budget for these countries. The rest of the aid, up to EUR 220 million, will be "new" money financed by using the emergency humanitarian aid reserve and/or the flexibility instrument (budgetary mechanism allowing for the ceiling of a heading in the Community budget to be surpassed). By adding the promises of donations from EU Member States, the total contribution from Europe is expected to amount to EUR 1.5 billion.
Fisheries: After tourism, the fisheries sector is the area hardest hit by the disaster. The EU is expected to create a working group responsible for examining how Community resources may be deployed to held the fisheries and aquaculture sectors of these countries. Joe Borg, European Fisheries Commissioner, is above all willing to make current Community rules more flexible when it comes to State aid in order to authorise financial support for the permanent transfer of EU fishing vessels to third countries (including the creation of joint companies with the partners of countries concerned). The Commission does not expect that the first instalments of financial aid in favour of fisheries in the affected areas will be paid out until the spring.
Trade: The Commission is also planning on taking trade measures to help four of the countries most affected by the tsunami: Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Indonesia. In practice, the Commission is considering the possibility of suspending certain anti-dumping procedures that are currently being directed against these countries and move forward earlier with the application of reform of the System of Generalised Preferences (SGP), which should have entered into force on 1 January 2006. According to the draft reform currently being discussed at the Council and European Parliament, Sri Lanka, for example, should benefit from an "SGP+" system, which would mean its imports into the EU would be exempt of all import duties, including textiles (sensitive area). Reform would also involve improved access to imports from India and Indonesia. Commissioner Peter Mandelson explained that, "We are currently examining the possible earlier introduction of SGP reform but we have to be careful to avoid premature measures, as this issue is linked to rules of origin. We have to ensure that trade facilities benefit countries and people affected by the tsunami" and not big exporting countries like China. The Commission is also planning to speed up discussions on making rules of origin more flexible to allow regional accumulation between ASEAN countries. the EU is also prepared to support other possible WTO multilateral initiatives granting concessions on tariffs to affected countries.