Brussels – After almost a year and a half, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany – and regions from four other member states – will finally receive support from the EU Solidarity Fund to deal with the consequences of the floods that hit them in the spring of 2023. The European Parliament finally released over 1 billion euros for Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Greece, and France after approving the mobilization of EU funds today (October 8), with 632 votes in favor, seven against, and three abstentions.
The EU Solidarity Fund (ESF) will mobilize 1.28 billion in aid. Italy will get nearly 450 million euros: 378.83 million for Emilia Romagna–including 94.71 million as an advance–and 67.81 million for Tuscany. Slovenia will receive 428.4 million and Austria 5.2 million, hit by severe floods in August 2023, while Greece, brought to its knees by Mediterranean storm ‘Daniel’ in September 2023, will receive 101.5 million and France, hit by floods in November 2023, 46.7 million. The figures were proposed and announced by the European Commission on August 27 after evaluating information received from the capitals.
With the EU facility, it is possible to cover part of the costs for emergency and recovery operations, such as repairing damaged infrastructure, protecting the population, securing preventive infrastructure, safeguarding cultural heritage, and clean-up operations. The EUSF can fund emergency and recovery operations retroactively from the day of the disaster. In Emilia Romagna, a month after the devastating floods of May 2023, the region reported €8.5 billion in damages, about half of which was to restore infrastructure such as roads, bridges, riverbanks, and canals. So far, the government has allocated 3.8 billion: 2.5 billion for securing the land and 1.3 billion to refund families and businesses.
In the approved text, MEPs express their “deepest solidarity with all the victims, their families and all those individuals affected by the destructive floods in Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Greece, and France, as well as to the national, regional, and local authorities involved in the relief efforts.” They also point to the “increasing number of severe and destructive natural disasters in Europe” and believe that “the budget of the EUSF or its equivalent should be expanded in view of the upcoming Commission proposal on the new Multiannual Financial Framework.”
Meanwhile, the 27 member states approved another emergency repair measure proposed by the European Commission: 120 million euros from the agricultural reserve of the CAP to support farmers in Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, and Romania affected by the extreme weather events. Of these, about 37.4 million will go to Italy, the second largest recipient of aid from Brussels after Germany (46.5 million euros). Romania (21.6 million euros), Bulgaria (10.9 million euros) and Estonia (3.3 million euros) follow. Brussels said, “The €120 million package will come into effect in the coming days.”
