EU nations agree aid as floods hit north

The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, attended an emergency meeting in Berlin on 18 August 2002 of European Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers. The meeting was convened by the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, to discuss emergency measures for flood-stricken regions of central Europe and it was agreed to reallocate European Union structural funds to assist with reconstruction costs. The affected countries will also propose the creation in 2003 of an EU emergency relief fund worth up to €500m, which will also be available for candidate countries.