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)
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