PARLIAMENT APPROVES AID FOR ROMANIA, BULGARIA AND FYROM.

Subject to a number of amendments, the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy voted on September 28 to approve three reports from Hans-Peter Martin (PES, Austria) on European Commission proposals concerning additional macro-financial aid for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Romania and Bulgaria. The European Commission had proposed granting loans of Euro 200 million to Romania and 100 million to Bulgaria, along with a credit line of Euro 50 million and the grant of 30 million to FYROM. The amendments adopted in Committee focus primarily on the fact that Community aid should serve to support reforms undertaken in the three countries aiming...