Decision (EU) 2018/846 on the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Greece, Spain, France and Portugal

Summary:

The European Commission proposed on 15 February 2018 the allocation of €104 million from the EU's Solidarity Fund to four Member States that had been hit by natural disasters in the previous year.

Following the European Parliament budget committee's approval of the proposal, the Parliament and the Council adopted a Decision authorising the mobilisation on 30 May.

Further information:

The €104 million was divided as follows:

+ €50.6 million for Portugal and €3.2 million for Spain following all the forest fires of the summer and October;
+ €49 million for the French regions of Saint-Martin and Guadeloupe, after hurricanes Irma and Maria;
+ €1.3 million for the Greek island of Lesbos after the June 2017 earthquake.

Violent forest fires ravaged the central and Northern regions of Portugal, claiming many human lives and overwhelming firefighting and rescue services. The neighbouring Spanish region of Galicia was also affected. Two European Outermost regions were hit by devastating hurricanes in September 2017; Saint-Martin was particularly affected. An earthquake and its aftershocks hit the Greek island of Lesbos in June 2017.

+ Wildfires are raging in the Mediterranean. What can we learn? [The Conversation, July 2017]
+ Tropical storm hits Europe, fuels wildfires in Portugal and Spain, batters Ireland [October 2017]
+ EU response to the Caribbean hurricanes [EPRS At a Glance, September 2017]

Official

EUR-Lex: COM(2018)155: Draft Amending Budget No 1 to the General Budget 2018 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2018:155:FIN

European Commission: Press Release, 15.02.18: EU solidarity at work: Commission offers financial aid to France, Greece, Spain and Portugal following natural disasters http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-722_en.htm

European Parliament: Press Release, 16.05.18: Budget MEPs approve €104.2 m in EU aid to Greece, Spain, France and Portugal http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180515IPR03507/

EP: Legislative Observatory: Mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund: assistance to Greece, Spain, France and Portugal http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil-mobile/fiche-procedure/2018/2029(BUD)

European Parliament: Press Release, 30.05.18: Parliament approves €104.2m in EU aid to Greece, Spain, France and Portugal http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180524IPR04219/

EUR-Lex: COM(2018)150: Proposal for a Decision on the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Greece, Spain, France and Portugal https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2018:150:FIN

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News

Kathimerini, 15.02.18: Lesvos to get €1.3 mln in EU aid for quake damage http://www.ekathimerini.com/225879/article/ekathimerini/news/lesvos-to-get-13-mln-in-eu-aid-for-quake-damage

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