Brussels, 25/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - European aid for relief in the event of natural disasters should in future be simplified and therefore paid out more swiftly. On Thursday 25 July, European Commissioner for Regional Development Johannes Hahn presented a reform of the European Union solidarity fund (EUSF) to clarify the scope and the eligibility criteria for the regions and to set prevention strategies in place.
The commissioner said the changes do not affect the scope or the principles of the solidarity fund but target solidarity. He said it is necessary to be able to act more swiftly to help countries rebuild and get back on their feet after a disaster. “The changes we have agreed will make the solidarity fund faster, clearer and simpler to use”, he said.
According to current procedures, payments of financial support for emergency work by the public authorities can take eight to twelve months after a request for aid has been submitted. With the new provisions, this should not take more than two or three months. To achieve this, two administrative stages, approval and implementation, have been merged. The commissioner says that the shorter administrative processes are the easier and faster the Fund will be to use. Furthermore, the scope of the EUSF has been redefined so that it is limited to natural disasters and droughts. There are clearer rules on eligibility for regional disasters, introducing one single damage threshold for aid - 1.5% of regional gross domestic product. Hahn says the regions will know whether they are eligible from the start and this will mean that decisions will be taken more rapidly. This is of primary importance as, last year, two thirds of all requests were rejected as they did not meet the appropriate threshold. Still in an effort to ensure efficient solidarity, advances may be paid up to 10% of the contribution envisaged but not beyond €30 million. Finally, EUSF reform assumes that measures will be taken to prevent disasters, mainly though communication and information. The commissioner said this will also encourage countries to step up their efforts on prevention and disaster management.
The EUSF was created in 2002. It will have a ceiling of €500 million annually under the next financial programming period 2014-2020, but any money not spent may be carried over to the following year. The Parliament and Council will now amend and endorse the reform.
The presentation of reform of the fund comes a few months after the tremendous flooding in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. To cover part of the cost of damage incurred, Germany has already filed a request for aid. Commissioner Hahn said it was foreseeable that approval and a first payment will come by the end of the year. The total amount may be around €330-360 million. The other countries have still to file their requests. (MD/transl.jl)