12/09/2017 (Agence Europe) – The S&D group’s French delegation at the European Parliament has called on France to request activation of the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) as soon as possible, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma in the French Antilles overseas region (see EUROPE 11859). It also called for an increase in the budget. The delegation pointed out in a press release published on Tuesday, 12 September that the EUSF was cut in two in comparison to the previous budget programming, which stood at €1 billion. The French socialists consider that these budgetary cuts “could possibly become criminal if another disaster occurred before 2019 and the European Union proved unable to help a region in difficulty”. It added that given global warming, weather phenomena of this scale could re-occur in the future. (PH)