Van Rompuy seeks new working methods

Leaders weigh up Haiti aid options

Although the eurozone's difficulties dominated the summit, the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti also featured. The EU's leaders said that they were open to a request from the United Nations to send soldiers to Haiti.

The UN is asking for extra troops from donor nations to help with the construction of temporary camps for the hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless after the January earthquake. Aid officials say that the rainy season, expected to start later this month, poses a new threat to those left homeless, many of whom do not have even a tent as shelter.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain's prime minister, said that the EU's 27 national leaders were “quite receptive” to the UN's appeal.

Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief is currently assessing what assets member states could provide to Haiti.

If deployed, the European soldiers would be sent under their national flags to assist ongoing relief efforts, rather than as part of an EU military mission. A small EU team in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, would help co-ordinate their efforts.

Several EU member states have already sent police to Haiti to help protect aid deliveries.

The extra aid comes on top of a further €90 million that the European Commission said it would send in emergency humanitarian aid funds to Haiti. If approved by EU governments and the European Parliament, the total EU aid to Haiti would top €609m.