Brussels, 15/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 15 March, the European Commission proposed to allocate the sum of €18.06 million to Italy from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) following the severe flooding in Liguria and Tuscany in October 2011.
Floods mainly affected the regions of La Spezia (Liguria) and Massa Carrara (Tuscany), as well as the area of the Cinque Terre (Liguria), a UNESCO world heritage site. EUSF resources will allow part of the cost borne by the public authorities in this emergency situation to be covered, especially for repair of basic infrastructure such as the supply of water, electricity and gas.
Although the amount of direct damage (over €722 million) was below the normal threshold for triggering the EU Solidarity Fund (currently €3.5 billion in the case of Italy), the Commission was able to mobilise the fund under the exceptional provision in the EUSF regulation for “extraordinary regional disasters”.
“Our priority is to restore as quickly as possible normal living conditions for the citizens of these regions, as well as the speedy recovery of economic activity, such as tourism”, explained Johannes Hahn, Regional Policy Commissioner. The Commission specifies in a press release that a full return to normal conditions is expected to take up to a year or even longer. (OL/transl.jl)