| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 19.7.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 19/07/2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Whilst many citizens across Europe enjoyed record temperatures and sunny weather in July 2003, European governments found themselves facing up to the costs of the unseasonally hot weather that has led to widespread forest blazes and violent storms, only a year after severe flooding caused devastation across much of Europe. However, the concerns of government officials in countries such as Italy, which may be forced to declare a state of emergency in the north, may be eased in the knowledge that this year they can apply for extra funding from the EU's solidarity fund. Established in the aftermath of the Summer 2002 floods, the fund's objective is to provide rapid and flexible aid in the event of a major disaster in any of the EU's Member States or acceding countries. Aid grants totalling €728 million have already been awarded to regions in Germany, France Austria and the Czech Republic, which were all severely affected by the flooding. In addition, on 18 July 2003, the European Commission proposed a further €8.6 million for the Spanish regions hit by the "Prestige" disaster and €47.6 million for the Italian regions of Molise and Apulia, which suffered damage in a series of earthquakes and the area surrounding Mount Etna, which has been affected by eruptions from the volcano. Background In August 2002, torrential rains swept across Europe leaving few countries unaffected. Whilst some countries got off lightly such as the United Kingdom, where people on the north east coast had to be evacuated from their homes, and Spain and the Balearic Islands, where summer holiday-makers faced incessant downpours, countries in Central and Eastern Europe were severely devastated by the extreme weather. Austria suffered its worst floods in a century and much of Prague's historic centre had to be evacuated from rising flood waters despite huge defences along the river Vltava. Germany and Romania also suffered as more than one hundred people lost their lives across Europe as a result of the severe weather. As the weather eased and flood waters started to recede, European governments began to calculate the huge bills of repairing the damage and the impact that this would have on public finances. In Austria the bill was put at €2 billion whilst in Germany the clean-up was forecast to total 15 billion euros, raising concerns that Germany would breach the terms of the EU's stability and growth pact, which limits how much countries of the eurozone can borrow. Although the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, said that the floods would not endanger the German government's spending limits, he did call for an emergency EU budget to be set up to deal with such crises, a demand supported by his Australian counterpart, Wolfgang Schüssel. Proposal for an EU Solidarity Fund Responding to the calls of the Austrian and German Chancellors, the European Commission approved a draft interinstitutional agreement between Parliament, the Council and the European Commission on setting up an EU Solidarity Fund on 11 September 2003 [IP/02/1287] following a proposal from European Commissioner for the Budget, Michaele Schreyer. Under the agreement, the fund's objective would be to allow swift help to be given in the event of major disasters in Member States or prospective members negotiating accession. The European Commission proposed that the maximum annual amount available from the Fund should be €1 billion each year, from which about €500 million would be made available for 2002. A quarter of the annual total is to be held in reserve until 1 October each year to ensure that there always funds available to respond to disasters. On 18 September 2002 [IP/02/1323], the European Commission followed up on the interinstitutional agreement by presenting a proposal [COM(2002) 514] for a Regulation laying down the implementation modalities of the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF). Under the proposal, the fund could be used in the event of a major technological, environmental or natural disaster in any Member State or acceding country, where the damage caused costs over €1 billion or represents more than 0.5% of the state's GDP. In addition, a disaster that affects a substantial amount of the region's or the state's population shall also be considered eligible. The fund would provide immediate financial assistance in the form of a grant with its scope limited to the most urgent needs, leaving other EU instruments such as the structural funds to be used for the long-term reconstruction of infrastructures and businesses. Funding would be granted on request by the affected country on the basis of an agreement between the European Commission and the beneficiary country. A State should submit an application for assistance from the EUSF as soon as possible, and no later than ten weeks after, the first damage caused by the disaster. To mobilise the funds in the event of a disaster the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission would have to reach agreement. The European Commission would present an amending budget and would launch a "trialogue" to ensure that both arms of the budgetary authority immediately agree in a single reading on the need for assistance and enter the necessary amount in the budget. Although the implementation of the aid, in particular the selection of individual projects, would be the responsibility of the country and the regions concerned the European Commission outlined areas where the EUSF would provide aid as follows:
The Regulation received broad support from all of the institutions. The European Parliament adopted its opinion on the proposal on 10 October 2002, on the basis of a report by MEP Rolf Berend. MEPs adopted a number of non-binding agreements including a broader definition of "major disaster" and a deadline of three months to apply for assistance from the Fund, as opposed to the two months, which had been proposed by the European Commission. The Council of the European Union adopted the Regulation at a meeting of the Education, Youth and Culture Council on 11 November 2002, keeping the EP's broad definition of a "major disaster". The Regulation [No 2012/2002] entered into force on 15 November 2002. The EUSF in Action Since then, the European Union Solidarity fund has been used to provide over €728 million in aid to regions in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and France, which were all seriously affected by the flooding. More recently, the European Commission has proposed the mobilisation of the fund for the Italian region affected by the Molise earthquake disaster in October 2002, which directly affected some 243,000 inhabitants in 79 municipalities were with damage to infrastructure and numerous public and private buildings, including farms, estimated at over €1.5 billion. According to the European Commission, economic production and commerce was brought to a standstill and this inflicted serious and lasting harm on the region's economy. Over 20% of buildings were declared unfit for habitation and close to 12,000 people had to be placed in temporary accommodation. The European Commission is proposing that the EUSF provides €30.8 million to finance the cost of the provision of temporary accommodation, immediate restoration of affected public infrastructure, to consolidate preventive infrastructure, and to protect cultural heritage in the affected areas in Molise and Apulia. Assistance is also proposed for Italian Sicilian region around Mount Etna, following the volcano's eruption, which began in late October 2002 and lasted several months. 86% of the one million population of the Province of Catania was directly affected by the disaster with many people exposed to the toxic downfall of volcanic ash, which represented a major hazard to public health. Severe damage through earthquake tremors and lava affected 160,000 people, rendering over 3,000 habitations and a number of public buildings unsafe and causing estimated direct damage of €849 million. The European Commission has proposed an EUSF grant of €16.8 million i to reimburse the cost of emergency measures, immediate restoration of affected infrastructure, to consolidate preventive infrastructure, to protect cultural heritage and to clean up affected areas in the Province of Catania. Finally, the European Commission is proposing to provide help to the Spanish Galician region, affected by the sinking of the oil tanker, the Prestige in November 2002, through an EUSF grant worth €8.6 million. Since the disaster, major pollution has affected a great number of beaches and coastal waters in the region with disastrous effects on fishing, aquaculture and tourism. A particular circumstance of the "Prestige" disaster is the uncertainty of knowing when the pollution will effectively stop as a permanent solution to neutralise the wreck is still not in place. The oil spill is causing major damage to the natural environment and the Spanish authorities estimate that over 330,000 people depending on fisheries and related sectors including family members - are estimated to be directly affected by the disaster through loss of occupation or income. In tourism the number exceeds 550,000 people. In total, the Spanish authorities expect over 885,000 people to be affected by the disaster with economic losses in both sectors taken together amounting to over €1.2 billion over the next two years. Clearly, the European Union Solidarity Fund is already being put to good use with several of Europe's regions benefiting from an extra source of much needed income at difficult times. The question is whether the fund is sufficiently large to provide enough assistance to all the regions across Europe, which find themselves severely affected by a major disaster. Certainly, the southern regions of France affected by severe storms and forest blazes and the drought-stricken northern regions of Northern Italy will be hoping that they are eligible for grants and that there is enough money left in the EUSF's account to assist them. Further links within European Sources Online
Further information can be seen in these external links: EU Institutions European Commission News Organisations
Helen Bower Compiled: 21 July 2003 In the wake of severe flooding in Central and Eastern Europe in 2002 the European Union has established a solidarity fund to provide flexible aid to Member States and acceding countries in the event of major disaster. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
