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 Greece €1.3 million following the earthquake that hit the island of Lesbos in June 2017. The EU Solidarity Fund can help finance the restoration of infrastructure and cover the costs of clean-up operations, for example.