In July 2023 Italy submitted an application for a contribution from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to finance emergency and recovery operations following the floods in the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy in May earlier this year.
- 14 November 2023
Today, the Commission adopted a decision to pay Italy an advance of € 94.7 million, to ease the financial burden caused by the disaster. The funding can be used for essential emergency and recovery operations such as the repair of damaged infrastructure, funding rescue services, measures of protection of cultural heritage, as well as clean-up operations. Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira said: “While the EU supports a wide range of measures in terms of prevention, climate adaptation and mitigation, EUSF assistance is indispensable in the aftermath of major natural disasters. This solidarity is in the DNA of the EU and finds its clearest expression in cohesion policy. Today the Commission proposed EUSF support to Italy, which suffered major damages this yea.”
The advance payment will be made in the following days, while the balance can be expected in 2024. The total amount of assistance is subject to budgetary availability, as the magnitude and frequency of natural disasters over the last years has seriously depleted the available funding of the EUSF. For this reason, the Commission proposed in June to increase the ceiling of the Solidarity Emergency and Aid Reserve (SEAR) in the context of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) mid-term revision. The proposed €2.5 billion is to be shared between the two instruments under the SEAR – the EUSF and the Emergency and Aid Reserve (EAR) - during the remaining four years of the MFF 2021-27.