OREANDA-NEWS. Romania, Bulgaria and Italy will receive €66.5 million in total for compensation to cover part of the cost of emergency measures taken during the 2014 floods, after Parliament approved a Commission proposal for this on Tuesday. The aid is covered by the European Solidarity Fund.


Country

Natural disaster

Date of disaster

Amount of aid (€)

Romania

Floods

April-May 2014

4,198,175

Romania

Floods

July-August 2014

4,297,775

Bulgaria

Floods

July-August

1,983,600

Italy

Floods

October-November 2014

56,026,300

The European Solidarity Fund aid will now help the three countries repair damage done to public and private infrastructure, private homes, businesses, agriculture, the environment, and cultural heritage by floods that hit Romania in the spring and summer, Bulgaria in the summer and Italy in the autumn of 2014.

The Council has already approved the aid, the bulk of which (€56 million) goes to Italy, with Bulgaria receiving almost €2 million and Romania nearly €8.5 million.

The proposal for the aid was adopted by 667 votes to 31, with 11 abstentions.

Background

 

The European Solidarity Fund was set up in November 2002 to help EU countries in the aftermath of natural disasters. It is used to cover essential emergency and recovery operations in disaster stricken member states. This is the first mobilisation decision of 2015. For this year, the Fund can spend €895 million.