BRUSSELS, May 15 (Reuters) - EU states are expected to block a push by the EU executive to release 500 million euros ($677.1 million) in aid to support developing countries hit by the global recession, an EU official said on Friday.
The executive arm of the 27-nation European Union said in April it would speed aid to poor countries by bringing forward to 2009 nearly 4.3 billion euros of previously earmarked funds.
The proposal did not entail adding to aid already set aside by the EU, but included a plan to release 500 million euros of reserve funds for welfare spending in poor countries worst hit by falling export revenues as world trade contracts.
However, most member states are resisting the introduction of this new facility, an EU official said.
"This release of reserve funds is backed by (EU Development Commissioner) Louis Michel and Sweden, but most member states are resisting that request, arguing that existing money should be better spent," he said.
"They want to concentrate more on the quality of spending, faster disbursement of funds and projects that add value," the official said.
However, another EU official argued that the introduction of the facility was critical to developing countries and warned that inaction could become costlier in the future.
"Promises need to be kept and maintained even in tough economic times. This is not a question of finding more money, it is rather a question of finding what we had already promised," the official said.
(Reporting by Bate Felix and David Brunnstrom; Writing by Bate Felix, editing by Mark Trevelyan)