Strasbourg, 21/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption, last Thursday, of the resolution on the earthquake which hit Kashmir at the beginning of October, the European Parliament has called on donors immediately to provide the 550 million dollars needed by the UN, and reminded them of the commitment taken at a conference on donors on 26 October, to provide additional aid of 580 million dollars. Furthermore, it calls upon the European Commission to clarify, as quickly as possible, what effort the EU will be able to make, particularly in terms of requirements for reconstruction in 2006. The resolution welcomes the signs of flexibility noted in relations between India and Pakistan in the wake of this catastrophe, such as the recent opening up of a bus service between both parts of Kashmir and the declaration by the Indian Prime Minister, supported by the President of Pakistan, that in future, the Siachen glacier will be considered a "Mountain of Peace" and a symbol of reconciliation between the two countries. During the debate, the authors of the resolutions called for more aid, but above all stressed the crucial problem of access to the stricken populations. Some members, such as Bernd Posselt (CSU), criticised the Indian and Pakistani authorities for not completely overcoming their political enmity to help Kashmir. Others, such as Scottish Green member Alyn Smith, noted that the donors needed to be prepared to contribute to a construction process which may last many years. The European Commission, as the Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hübner pointed out, reacted within hours of the announcement of the disaster, but is perfectly well aware of problems with the distribution of aid, its coordination (ECHO is actively taking care of this), the capacity for action of agencies present on the ground, not to mention problems in the longer term. The Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, is leaving for Pakistan to take part (with, amongst others, Kofi Annan, together with representatives of the donor countries) in a two-day conference on reconstruction, she pointed out.