News
Commission pledges €110 million to complete safety work on Chernobyl site
20/04/2011
On Tuesday (19/04), 25 years after the tragic Chernobyl accident, President Barroso and Commissioner Piebalgs announced the European Commission's pledge of €110 million at a high-level conference in Kiev to ensure that the Chernobyl site is made stable and environmentally safe. The Commission has so far committed a lion's share - some €470 million - to Chernobyl-related projects, mainly for nuclear safety, but also on programmes to help the local population and provide affected families with access to quality healthcare. Yet a further €740 million are needed from the international community in order to complete the major projects on the site by 2015.
Commissioner Piebalgs announces a recovery package of €180 million for Ivory Coast
13/04/2011
Following the Foreign Affairs Council's discussions on Ivory Coast today, Commissioner Piebalgs made the following announcement:
"The Commission will prepare a first comprehensive recovery package of €180 million in cooperation with the government of Ivory Coast...
World Health Day: Joint statement of Commissioner for Health John Dalli, Commissioner for Research Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs
07/04/2011
In a joint statement the Commissioners said: "On the occasion of the World Health Day, we wish to raise awareness of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotics, have led to a revolution in medicine, allowing us to treat previously deadly bacterial infections and save many lives. However, these gains are now in jeopardy as the overuse and misuse of antimicrobial agents have led to a steep rise in resistant organisms and infections, causing unnecessary deaths and suffering and generating avoidable healthcare costs. Following on from the 2001 'Community Strategy against Antimicrobial Resistance', the Commission has developed a series of initiatives to tackle this issue.
Commissioner Piebalgs calls for EU to maintain its leadership on official development aid as new figures reveal it spent a record €53.8 billion in 2010
06/04/2011
Today Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs presented the 2010 preliminary figures on official development aid spent by the EU and its 27 Member States. Aid rose by about €4.5 billion from 2009, reaching a total of €53.8 billion, which confirms the EU's position as the largest and most generous donor of official development assistance, providing more than half of global official aid. Although the EU missed its target for 2010, it still made positive progress despite the economic downturn.
