On Wednesday, Parliament approved nearly €455 million in EU Solidarity Fund aid in response to recent natural disasters in Romania, Italy and Türkiye.
Romania to receive €33.9 million following damage caused by severe 2022 drought, Italy €20.9 million for the damage caused by the September 2022 flooding in the Marche region, and Türkiye €400 million following two major earthquakes in February 2023.
MEPs express their “deepest solidarity with all the victims, their families and all the individuals affected” by the natural disasters in Romania, Italy and Türkyie. They point to the “increasing number of severe and destructive natural disasters in Europe”, and stress that “due to climate change extreme weather events such as those observed in Romania and Italy resulting in emergencies are going to further intensify and multiply”. The EU should therefore “strengthen its efforts to tackle climate change both in the Union and globally.”
The European Commission has proposed to use the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to grant financial assistance of € 454,835,030to the three countries. EUSF assistance will cover parts of the costs of emergency and recovery operations like repairing damaged infrastructure, securing preventive infrastructure and the protection of cultural heritage, as well as clean-up operations. Under the fund’s rules, emergency and recovery operations may be financed by the EUSF retroactively from day one of a disaster.
The aid package was approved by 593 votes in favour, 11 votes against and 22 abstentions.
