Brussels, 23/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 23 July, the European Commission announced that it would grant aid worth €16.2 million from the EU Solidarity Fund to Greece and Bulgaria following heavy rains and wide-spread flooding affecting the two countries at the beginning of the year.
Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu solemnly declared that “The EU Solidarity Fund is one of our strongest symbols of solidarity in times of need. Today we are bringing financial support to the regions of Greece and Bulgaria affected by the disasters of this winter, which caused considerable damage. Now we can start rebuilding, together”.
€9.9 million in aid will go to Greece and €6.3 million for Bulgaria. This aid seeks to cover the costs relating to restoring and rebuilding key infrastructure (in the energy domain, water purification, telecommunications, transport, health and education), as well as emergency action and cleanup operations.
In February, Greece experienced serious flooding, particularly in the broader area of the rivers Evros and Ardas, where around 17,500 ha of land were flooded. In central and western Greece, particularly the Epirus region, 60% of the road network was damaged. Similarly, in January, Bulgaria also suffered from heavy rainfall, snow and floods that led to over 300 buildings being flooded, landslides, dykes being breached and flooded agricultural land and forests due to the rivers bursting their banks.
The total annual allocation available for the EU Solidarity Fund in 2015 is €541.2 million. Adding the remainder of the allocation from the preceding year, the total amount of the EU Solidarity Fund available during 2015 is more than €895 million.
The EU Solidarity Fund was created on 7 November 2002 following unprecedented floods in central Europe. It is only activated when “major disasters” occur, namely, when damages are estimated to be over €3 billion at 2011 prices or more than 0.6% of GNP, according to Article 2 of its revised regulation (see EUROPE 11074) and it is used to complete the efforts made by the countries affected.
The EUSF has been used 67 times since it was set up (see EUROPE 11174) and has also been earmarked for countries that are not part of the European Union (see EUROPE 11084). In April, Bulgaria, Italy and Romania, which were affected by heavy rains in 2014, benefitted from the Fund. (Pascal Hansens)