The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, confirmed, on Sunday 27 August, the forthcoming payment of €400 million in aid to Slovenia following this summer’s floods.
During her visit to Slovenia on 9 August, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced an aid package for Slovenia following the damage caused by rain, flooding and mudslides.
This package includes, first and foremost, €400 million in aid from the EU Solidarity Fund, with €100 million this year and €300 million next year.
Following a visit to the disaster-stricken regions, Charles Michel said: “We will mobilise €400 million as a starting point. You can also count on the Council and the Member States.
The second element is the Next Generation EU programme. In addition to the funds that Slovenia is already using and has already programmed, €2.7 billion are still available, Ms von der Leyen said. Slovenia can request them. A working group between Slovenia and the Commission has been set up to examine the administrative requirements to ensure that Slovenia can use the €2.7 billion for investment purposes.
There is a third element: existing funds already programmed, which can be reprogrammed. This involves €3.3 billion for cohesion policy up to 2027.
Charles Michel said it was important “to invest and rebuild the country” and “to be better prepared because we know that in the future, probably not only in Europe, not only in Slovenia, we will face more and more natural disasters”. This means that “we need to be better prepared and to have money available in case of need. So that we can act and react very quickly”, concluded the President of the European Council. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)