Aid can be used for cultural heritage protection, infrastructure restoration and rescue services
On Friday, the European Commission (EC) paid out aid from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to Italy, France and Austria in the amount of more than 392 million euros. It is intended to help with the removal of damage caused by last year’s devastating floods, TASR informs, according to the EC statement.
Italy received support worth almost 352 million euros from the fund for the reconstruction after the floods that affected the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany during 2023. To France, the Commission paid €35 million in connection with flooding in the north of the country, and to Austria €5.2 million to finance reconstruction after floods in the south of the country.
In a statement, the European Commission recalled that in the mentioned parts of Italy and France it contributed to the restoration of destroyed infrastructure and houses in the past.
“The aid from the EUSF can be used to cover part of the costs of emergency operations: the protection of cultural heritage, the restoration of key infrastructure, the clean-up of disaster-affected areas, as well as temporary accommodation and rescue services,” clarifies the EC.
The EU Solidarity Fund is the Union’s main instrument for disaster recovery. Since 2002, it has provided more than 8.6 billion euros in the event of 130 disasters in 24 EU member states, as well as in the United Kingdom, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.
