European Commission moves to help Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia after flood, earthquake and ice storm disasters.
EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, has today announced an aid package worth nearly €47 million proposed by the European Commission for Sardinia (Italy), Kefalonia (Ionian Islands, Greece), Slovenia and Croatia after a series of natural disasters struck the regions in late 2013 and early 2014.
The proposed aid of €16.3m to Italy is in response to the serious flooding in November 2013, while €3.7m is earmarked for Greece to help cover the costs of an earthquake and several aftershocks in Kefalonia and the Ionian Islands in January-March 2014. Both Slovenia and Croatia were severely affected by an ice storm in January and February 2014 and have been granted aid worth €18.4m and €8.6m respectively.
Commissioner Hahn, who oversees the Fund and signed today’s proposal, said “This decision reflects the very nature of this Fund, which is solidarity with our fellow Member States and neighbours in their time of need after natural disasters. The European Solidarity Fund helps these countries get back on their feet and regain stability which is threatened by the severe damage to economic sectors such as tourism, or destruction of essential infrastructure. The amount of funding proposed will enable Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia to recover from their respective disasters and reimburse rescue costs in the affected regions.”
He added: “These amounts are specific and targeted to help address the immediate and direct impact of natural disasters. In addition, the overall development of these regions is supported through the European Structural and Investment Funds. Concentrating resources in business support, research and innovation, ICT and the low carbon economy they can help these regions turn their disaster into an opportunity for developing a sustainable economic model based on their local strengths and characteristics”
The support, under the European Solidarity Fund, still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council. Providing it is, it will go some way in covering the emergency costs incurred by the public authorities in these four Member States due to the disasters. The grant will in particular, help to restore vital infrastructure and services, reimburse the cost of emergency and rescue operations, and help cover some of the clean-up costs in the disaster-stricken regions.
The total annual allocation available for the Solidarity Fund in 2014 is €530,604m (€500m in 2011 prices). In order to take account of the lower annual allocation introduced in 2014 (€500m plus any remainder of the preceding year compared with €1 billion before) and to avoid early depletion of the Fund, the maximum financial contribution for a given disaster may not exceed two-thirds of the annual allocation of the Fund – €353,736m in 2014.
The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was set up to support EU member states and accession countries by offering financial support after major natural disasters. The Fund was created in the wake of the severe floods in Central Europe in the summer of 2002.
The revised EU Solidarity Fund Regulation entered into force on 28 Juneand simplifies the existing rules so that aid can be paid out more rapidly than before. The use of advance payments will be become possible for the first time for Member States from 2015.
