Today, the Commission is proposing financial support of almost €455 million from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to provide assistance to Türkiye in relation to the earthquakes in February 2023 as well as Romania and Italy in relation to the natural disasters that took place in these countries in 2022.
- 23 August 2023
The aid package is composed as follows:
- €33.9 million will be addressed to Romania, following the damages caused by a severe drought in the summer of 2022.
- €20.9 million to Italy in relation to the damages caused by the floods around the Marche region in September 2022.
- €400 million to Türkiye following the damages caused by two major earthquakes of February 2023.
The EUSF assistance will cover parts of the costs of emergency and recovery operations like repair of damaged infrastructure, protection for the population, securing preventive infrastructure and protection of cultural heritage, as well as clean-up operations. Emergency and recovery operations may be financed by the EUSF retroactively from day one of the disaster.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira said: “Year after year, we face the devastating impact of climate change and natural disasters of growing frequency and magnitude. While prevention, climate adaptation and mitigation, also supported by Cohesion Policy, remain paramount, EUSF assistance is indispensable in the aftermath of major natural disasters. This solidarity is in the DNA of the EU and it does not stop at its borders. Today the Commission proposed an important package of EUSF support to Türkiye following the devastating earthquakes in February in line with the EU pledge at the international donor conference of March 2023, and to Italy and Romania, which suffered major damages last summer. ”
Next steps
The Commission will now finalise the respective Commission Implementing Decisions awarding the assistance to each of the States supported by this package.
Once the Commission's proposal is approved by the Parliament and the Council, the final financial aid can be paid out in a single instalment to the general budget of the requesting countries. Since Türkiye is an accession country, additionally to the approval of the Parliament and the Council, the Commission will also sign a Bilateral Agreement with Türkiye specifying the details of the use of the assistance.