Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (hereinafter "the Regulation") provides that a report on the activity of the Fund in the previous year be presented to the European Parliament and to the Council. The present report presents the activities of the Fund in 2012 covering, as in previous reports, the treatment of pending and new applications and the assessment of implementation reports with a view to preparing these for closure.
In the course of 2012, a total of 7 applications for Solidarity Fund assistance were received which represents a normal and average year in terms of the number of applications. Two applications were received during the first half of the year and five more followed over the summer and autumn months.