Brussels, 06/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - At the end of June, the European Commission adopted preliminary draft amending budget No7 for 2009 which provides for €109.377 million from the European Union Solidarity Fund to be used to partly reimburse France's expenditure following the violent storm (hurricane Klaus) in January 2009. The envelope will be paid to France to reimburse some of its costs (cleaning operations in the affected areas and restoration of infrastructure) after approval of the preliminary draft amending budget by the Council of Ministers of the EU and the European Parliament.
After considering the French report, the Commission estimated the total cost of damages directly caused by the storm at €3.805 billion. This exceeds the €3.398 threshold for France for 2009, and allows intervention under the Solidarity Fund on the grounds of a major natural disaster. The hurricane caused substantial damage in the forestry sector and to businesses and private homes. It also impacted on the infrastructure (transport, electricity, water, telecommunications) and the farming sector. The storm caused the death of 123 people, and injured 400 others. Lasting negative economic repercussions are forecast for the wood and paper industries. (L.C./transl.rt)