Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino has visited the European Union’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, near Milan in Italy.

Mr Pullicino, who was accompanied by the Policies and Environmental Director Chris Ciantar, was shown around the centre by its director-general Roland Schenkel. The centre was established to provide support to the European Commission in terms of scientific and technical advice for the planning of

policies.

The centre has a budget of some euros300 million, that is derived from the commission’s budget for research and from other income generated by the centre itself.