The European Commission has today proposed financial support of €101.5 million from the EU Solidarity Fund to deal with the damage caused by the floods in September 2023 in Greece.

Specifically, the Commission proposes over 1 billion euros in financial support from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to help Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Greece and France deal with the effects of the severe floods that hit these countries in 2023.

The aid package is distributed as follows:

  • €378.8 million for Italy following the flood damage in the Emilia-Romagna region in May 2023 and an additional €67.8 million for the Tuscany region following the floods in October and November 2023.
  • 428.4 million euros for Slovenia.
  • EUR 5.2 million for Austria to deal with the consequences of the floods in August 2023.
  • €101.5 million for Greece to support flood recovery efforts in September 2023.
  • €46.7 million for France for flood damage caused in the Hauts-de-France region in November 2023.

This funding proposal follows requests for Solidarity Fund assistance from the countries concerned. Once the Commission’s proposal has been approved by the Parliament and the Council, the financial aid can be disbursed without delay and in one installment to each of the applicant countries.

EU Solidarity Fund assistance will cover part of the costs of emergency and recovery operations, including repairing damaged infrastructure, protecting cultural heritage and carrying out clean-up operations.

Cohesion and Reforms Commissioner Elisa Ferreira said: “The EU Solidarity Fund is a special tool to support Member States to recover from large-scale natural disasters. This aid not only provides relief and help with emergency costs, but also helps EU countries to better rebuild themselves in the context of the challenges posed by climate change.”