Press Release: Commission approves EUR 147 million to fight animal diseases in 2004

The European Commission approved on 16 October 2003 a financial package to fight transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) and other animal diseases in the European Union in 2004. The EU budget will contribute €92.64 million for financing BSE and scrapie monitoring and eradication in the Member States and Accession Countries. The Commission also adopted funding provisions for the 2004 programmes to eradicate other animal diseases like brucellosis or rabies and prevent zoonoses. The EU will contribute €54.29 million from its resources in the veterinary field for these programmes in the Member States and some Accession Countries. The diseases targeted by the programmes have implications for both human and animal health or cause serious losses in livestock farming and therefore constitute barriers to intra-EU or international trade.