European Union Solidarity Fund annual report 2016

The European Union Solidarity Fund enables the EU to provide financial support to a Member State, an accession country or a region in the event of a major natural disaster. Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 establishing the EU Solidarity Fund provides that a report on the activity of the Fund in the previous year shall be presented to the European Parliament and to the Council. The present report describes the activities of the Fund during the year 2016.

In 2016, the Commission received six applications for financial contribution from the Solidarity Fund, namely from Greece (Lefkada earthquake), from the United Kingdom (flooding), from Germany (Lower Bavaria flooding), from Cyprus (drought and fires), from Portugal (Madeira fires) and from Italy (earthquakes). The series of earthquakes in the Italian Apennines between August 2016 and January 2017 represents the biggest natural disaster for the Fund.

ESO: Key Source: EU Solidarity Fund http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-solidarity-fund/

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