Spain, as the Presidency in Office of the European Union, has activated the co-ordination mechanisms existing in the heart of the EU for catastrophes such as the one which occurred this Saturday in Chile, with a view to sending immediate aid to this country, once the damages have been assessed and such aid is requested by the Chilean authorities.

The European Commission (EC) has approved three million euros of emergency aid in response to the situation caused by the earthquake that shook Chile on Saturday. The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durao Barroso, has announced that Brussels is ready to allot 3 million Euros in aid to face the most urgent needs after the earthquake in Chile.

"As an act of solidarity with the Chilean people, we have immediately earmarked three million euros for the organisations working on the ground there, so that they can provide help in the first and most critical days after the earthquake", the EU Humanitarian Aid Officer, Kristalina Georgieva said.

Europe is willing to "do anything necessary to assist the Chilean authorities in this difficult moment", says Barroso in a press release in which he says he is deeply dismayed at the extent of the devastation caused by the terrible earthquake”.

The European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), added the statement, is in a position to make the decision to fund first aid in the sum of 3 million Euros" to relieve suffering and deal with the most pressing needs".

Spain, as Presidency in Office of the European Union, is willing, as a release from the Foreign Affairs Ministry states, "to offer, as in the case of Haiti, all of its capability installed in the region for a co-ordinated response to this new catastrophe which has again shaken a friend and brother country; it will be there for Chile for anything it may need".  

The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, Catherine Ashton, underlined in another release, that the European Union is "completely ready to provide its aid to the Chilean people" and reported that "all of the specialised European actors are analysing and evaluating the situation in Chile at this moment".

After the earthquake that struck Haiti in January,  the Union immediately mobilised search and rescue teams and earmarked 122 M€ from the Commission and the Member States combined for urgent humanitarian assistance and a further 100 M€ for the urgent restoration of government capacity in Haiti, as well as 200 M€ for longer-term development.