Brussels, 21/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - European Regional Development Commissioner Johannes Hahn has said that Serbia is already being treated like a member of the European family in obtaining assistance from the European solidarity fund, in response to the flooding and landslides in the Balkans. The natural disaster has affected 1.6 million people and left around 50 dead (see other article and
EUROPE 11083).
In this context of crisis, Hahn, met the Serbian ministers Ivica Dacic (Foreign Affairs) and Jadranka Joksimovic (European Integration) in Brussels on Wednesday 21 May.
After this meeting, the commissioner stressed that, although Serbia is not part of the EU, the country already appears to be eligible for EU solidarity funding by virtue of the EU pre-accession process already underway. He said that Serbia was being treated “as a member state, on an equal footing concerning use of the EUSF” and that it could “rely on the support of the EU”. Similarly reassuringly, he confirmed that, if the total level of the damage put forward at this stage was confirmed, the country could well be eligible for the fund. In order for it to be triggered, the losses must exceed 0.6% of the gross national income of the country, which would equate to €175 million for Serbia. The country will have to submit a full and formal request for aid to the Commission by the beginning of August.
Hahn added that it would have to be established whether the unused money out of the pre-accession fund for the previous period could be reallocated to repairing damage in the country. This would also be the case for Bosnia and Herzegovina, although it is not eligible for the EU solidarity fund as pre-accession negotiations have not yet begun.
Croatia, which has been a full member of the EU for nearly a year, may itself apply for assistance from the EU solidarity fund. According to a Commission source, the country plans to do so but, as the damage is less severe, this would be as a regional natural disaster, as the eligibility threshold for this is 0.5% of regional GDP. (MD)