The European Parliament today approved by 555 votes in favour, (7 votes against and 4 abstentions) the disbursement of €718.5 million from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to support reconstruction efforts after natural disasters. Henrike Hahn, Member of the European Parliament (The Greens/EFA), substitute member of the Committee on Budgets and rapporteur for the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF), comments:

“As a sign of European solidarity, the EUSF makes an important contribution to reconstruction efforts after natural disasters. This year, Germany will also receive €612 million from EU funds for the reconstruction of public infrastructure after the heavy floods in the summer of last year. With the EUSF disbursements now approved, however, it must also be clear that combating climate change has to be the priority for the EU - and that it is a matter of preventive rather than after-the-fact measures. Because of climate change, extreme weather events, such as the floods in summer 2021 and the forest fires of this year, will continue to intensify and multiply. Therefore, in a revision of the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), EUSF funding must be increased.”

 

Background:

The EUSF will provide a total amount of €718.5 million. On the one hand, Germany (€612.6 Million), Belgium (€87.7 Million), the Netherlands (€4.7 Million), Austria (€797 520) and Luxembourg (€1.8 Million) will receive support in view of the floods in July 2021. On the other hand, Spain (€9.4 Million) and Greece (€ 1.3 Million) will receive funding for the volcanic eruption in Las Palmas and the earthquake in Crete in September 2021. The Commission has assessed these emergencies and outlined concrete financial support for each of the member countries, which has now been approved by the European Parliament.

 

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