Brussels – The European Commission will assist the Valle d’Aosta region after being hit by violent floods in June. The EU executive is proposing to allocate 3.96 million euros through the Solidarity Fund to support the recovery of the territory and its economy following the damage caused by the bad weather.
European assistance through the Solidarity Fund responds to the request made by Italy immediately after the natural disaster that occurred in the northwestern special-status region and will take the form of covering part of the costs for emergency and recovery operations, including repairing damaged infrastructure and securing preventive infrastructure, safeguarding cultural heritage, and clean-up operations.
The funds will not come immediately. They will need the approval of the EU Parliament and Council, and only after this double vote can the financial contribution be disbursed into the state coffers in one lump sum. Then, the resources can be available to Valle d’Aosta.
“The EU Solidarity Fund is a concrete example of EU solidarity in action, putting people and regions first and helping them recover from devastating natural disasters,” said Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira, determined to emphasize the importance of the community project. The Solidarity Fund is “a powerful tool to help our communities rebuild, providing disaster relief and strengthening member states’ resilience to future climate-related disasters.”
