03/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - Towards the end of 2002 the European Commission and the Czech Republic signed an agreement involving EUR 129 million in aid from the European Union Solidarity Fund for the regions affected by floods. Like Germany and Austria and, to a lesser extent, the South of France, the Czech Republic was badly hit by the floods of last August. The EU then set up the Solidarity Fund, as proposed by the European Commission, with an annual budget of EUR 1 billion.