“Hurricane Irma has left a trail of devastation across many countries.

It is our moral duty to help those in need whose lives and homes are being destroyed or severely threatened.

We stand in full solidarity with all those in the Caribbean and in the USA during and after the storm. For as long as it takes.

Last week we mobilised our emergency response tools and our 24/7 Emergency Response Coordination Centre has been in continuous coordination with our EU Member States on any assistance required.

Today additional EU funding is on its way.

We have now released an initial amount of humanitarian assistance of €2 million for the most affected islands in the Caribbean. This will help support key sectors such as water and sanitation, health, waste management, logistics.

Further EU funding for reconstruction efforts is of course available in terms of longer term assistance. This new support comes on top of our EU Copernicus satellite support, which has been providing essential mapping services since last week.

EU humanitarian experts deployed across the region continue to help the local authorities and coordinate aid deliveries.

Let me make it clear that any country in the region can request our help through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. We stand ready to provide any further assistance to the affected countries.”

Background

The EU mobilised all its emergency response tools last week before Hurricane Irma approached the Caribbean. As a first step last week, the EU’s Copernicus satellite mapping system was activated to deliver high quality maps for Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélémy and Saint Martin at the request of France, and of Sint Maarten at the request of the Netherlands, as well as for the British Virgin Islands. The Commission has also activated Copernicus for areas of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The Commission is also supporting a Disaster Relief Emergency Fund operation by the International Federation of the Red Cross, providing basic relief kits to the affected populations in Antigua and Barbuda. Furthermore, a team of EU humanitarian experts is deployed in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic. The EU also supported the US authorities during Hurricane Harvey by providing use of its Copernicus satellite service.

For more information

Factsheet “EU: a world leader in helping those affected by crises”

Factsheet “EU Civil Protection Mechanism”

Video and photo of Commissioner Stylianides’ recent visit to the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre

Video: European Commission’s Emergency Response Centre

Website of the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre

Statement by Commissioner Christos Stylianides on the EU assistance mobilised for hurricane hit islands

“Hurricane Irma has left a trail of devastation across many countries. It is our moral duty to help those in need whose lives and homes are being destroyed or severely threatened. We stand in full solidarity with all those in the Caribbean and in the USA during and after the storm. For as long as it takes. Last week we mobilised our emergency response tools and our 24/7 Emergency Response Coordination Centre has been in continuous coordination with our EU Member States on any assistance required. Today additional EU funding is on its way. We have now released an initial amount of humanitarian assistance of €2 million for the most affected islands in the Caribbean. This will help support key sectors such as water and sanitation, health, waste management and logistics. Further EU funding for reconstruction efforts is of course available in terms of longer term assistance. This new support comes on top of our EU Copernicus satellite support, which has been providing essential mapping services since last week. EU humanitarian experts deployed across the region continue to help the local authorities and coordinate aid deliveries. Let me make it clear that any country in the region can request our help through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. We stand ready to provide any further assistance to the affected countries.” The statement is available here. Video and photo coverage of Commissioner Stylianides recent visit to the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre are also available. A factsheet is available ‘EU: a world leader in helping those affected by crises’. (For more information Carlos Martin Ruiz de Gordejuela – Tel.: +32 229 65322; Daniel Puglisi – Tel.: +32 229 69140)

 

Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of GTA by Cinven and CPPIB

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control over GTA of Switzerland by Fifth Cinven Fund, managed by Cinven Capital Management (V) General Partner Limited (“Cinven”) of the UK, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) of Canada. GTA is engaged in intermediation of travel services, in particular business-to-business intermediation of hotel accommodation. Cinven is a private equity firm providing investment management and investment advisory services. CPPIB is an investment management organisation which invests the funds of the Canada Pension Plan. CPPIB and Cinven jointly control the Hotelbeds Group, a travel service provider, and Travel Holdings Parent Corporation, a travel brokerage company. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns given the companies’ moderate combined market positions resulting from the proposed transaction and the presence of a number of strong competitors providing hotel intermediation across the EEA and at national level. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure. More information will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.8520. (For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 229 80100; Maria Sarantopoulou – Tel.: +32 229 13740)

11/09/2017

Awareness session for international regulators and NGOs on the work of EMA and European medicines regulatory system

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will host an awareness session to present the European Union’s (EU) medicines regulatory system and EMA’s role in it to international regulators and non-governmental organisations.

A clear understanding of how medicines are regulated in different parts of the word is of prime importance in an increasingly globalised world where regulators rely on close cooperation. Speakers from across the Agency will present on the European medicines regulatory network and the various activities carried out by EMA as part of it. Topics include European Union (EU) marketing authorisation procedures, support to innovation, benefit/risk assessment of new medicines, pharmacovigilance activities, and stakeholder engagement, among others. The event will be held on 18–19 September 2017. A link to the live broadcast will be freely accessible on EMA’s homepage on the day of the event. For more information, please see the programme.

The European medicines regulatory system is based on a network of regulatory authorities from the 31 European Economic Area countries (28 EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), the European Commission and EMA. EMA and the Member States cooperate and share expertise in the assessment of new medicines and of new safety information. They also rely on each other for exchange of information in the regulation of medicines, for example regarding the reporting of side effects of medicines, the oversight of clinical trials and the conduct of inspections of medicines’ manufacturers.