The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was in Italy on Thursday 25 May to express to the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and to the Italian people, the solidarity of the EU, which is already at work following the deadly floods that devastated the Emilia-Romagna region last weekend (see EUROPE 13185/34).
Ms von der Leyen, accompanied by the President of the region, Stefano Bonaccini, was able to take a helicopter flight over the entire devastated area to see the extent of the destruction.
“To see all that water, all that land under water, all that mud. It’s heartbreaking. I'm here to tell you that Europe is with you”, she said at a press conference.
Ms Meloni voiced her gratitude for the solidarity immediately expressed by all the heads of state and government who were with her when she had to leave in a rush from the G7 summit in Hiroshima on Sunday. In particular, she welcomed the “first concrete signs of this solidarity”: nine EU Member States immediately offered assistance through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism when the Italian authorities requested assistance. Water pumps were provided by Belgium, France, Slovakia and Slovenia, and more than 1,000 people came to help the Italians.
Given the scale of the devastation and the many problems it has caused in this agricultural region, “particularly for many of the farmers affected, we will need support”, stressed the President of the Italian Council.
There is an urgent need to come to the aid of farmers, said the President of the Commission. Emergency agricultural funds can therefore be mobilised. She indicated that, in a second phase, Italy would also be able to count on the European Solidarity Fund, which is “appropriate for support” in such cases, as it was during the 2012 earthquake.
However, she was unable to give a precise amount at this stage, given that the mobilisation of financial resources from this fund – beyond an initial disbursement of a modest amount – requires a prior assessment of the damage “in order to have a clear idea of the EU’s possible contribution”. This will be the case within three months. The Cohesion Fund could also be used, she assured.
Ms von der Leyen also pointed out that the EU’s Next Generation EU budget includes €6 billion for future work on flood and earthquake prevention and infrastructure reinforcement. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)