Council pledges long-term commitment to tsunami relief[fr][de] 

Meeting in an extraordinary session on 7 January, the EU's foreign affairs, development and health ministers have agreed that humanitarian aid should be the main focus of tsunami relief efforts at this point. The Council highlighted the importance of actions to prevent the emergence of epidemics and protect human lives by ensuring food supply and access to drinking water, medicines and vaccines.

However, EU ministers emphasised the need for a smooth transition from the humanitarian relief phase through a period of rehabilitation to the longer term objective of reconstruction. The Council underlined the role of the UN in co-ordinating and managing these efforts. The Council has invited the Commission to propose a strategy for better disaster preparedness in the future. The EU will set out its ideas at a UN-hosted donors' conference on 11 January.

The tsunami disaster affected 12 countries and claimed more than 150,000 lives. Germany (over 60 dead), Sweden (52 dead) and the UK (49 dead) were among the worst hit EU members with hundreds more of their nationals still missing.

The EU and its members have so far contributed over 1.5 billion euros in public donations to the disaster-stricken areas. The Council has called on the Commission and the European Investment Bank to devise a new financial instrument, called the 'Indian Ocean Tsunami Facility', which could provide funding of up to 1 billion euros. The Council will organise a follow-up meeting on 31 January to assess medium to long-term response plans to the tsunami disaster.

The Council's conclusions underline that the aid given to help tsunami victims should not lead to a reduction in resources needed for African humanitarian and development aid.