The European Union's ministers for humanitarian aid are set to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss their joint response to the disastrous cyclone in Myanmar, reported dpa.
They are also "highly likely" to discuss a response to Monday's earthquake in China, EU officials said, although the catastrophe was so recent that the matter has not been officially put on the agenda.
At the meeting, which was called by EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, the ministers are set to "assess the state of play regarding the humanitarian situation on the ground and review the response of the EU (member states and the European Commission)," a press release from the EU's rotating presidency, currently run by Slovenia, said.
They are also set to "identify and co-ordinate the best means of facilitating the mobilization and delivery of international humanitarian assistance on the ground," the statement said.
That clause refers to the widespread complaint from international aid organizations that the Myanmar regime has refused to let their workers into the country and has failed to pass vital supplies on to the stricken areas.
European officials say that they are "deeply concerned" by the reports, but that the international community is limited in its ability to change the situation.
"We cannot force the entry of humanitarian aid," a spokesman for the European Commission - the EU's executive - said when the first reports of aid delays came in. d