The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was created after the severe floods in Central Europe in the summer of 2002. Since then, it has been used for 76disasters covering a range of different catastrophic events including floods, forest fires, earthquakes, storms and drought. 24 different European countrieshave been supported so far with an amount of over €5 billion.
The Commission proposes to give France €49 million to following the hurricanes Irma and Maria that hit Guadeloupe and especially Saint-Martin. The Commission had mobilised all its emergency response tools after hurricanes hit the Caribbean in 2017. It included the EU's emergency Copernicus satellite mapping service and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, via which EU Member States provided logistical support for humanitarian relief and civil protection expertise. The EU Solidarity Fund aid can now help cover the costs of relief efforts and assistance to the population, including the provision of food and temporary housing.