Today, the Commission is proposing financial support of more than €1 billion from the EU Solidarity Fund (ESF) to help Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Greece and France deal with the effects of the severe floods that hit them in 2023.

The aid package is distributed as follows: €378.8 million to Italy for the damage caused by the floods in the Emilia-Romagna region in May 2023, and another €67.8 million for the damage suffered by the Tuscany region in October and November 2023 floods; €428.4 million in Slovenia and €5.2 million in Austria to deal with the consequences of the August 2023 floods; €101.5 million in Greece to support recovery efforts from the September 2023 floods; and €46.7 million in France for the damage caused by the floods in the Hauts-de-France region in November 2023.

The EDF assistance will cover part of the costs of emergency and recovery actions, including the repair of damaged infrastructure, the preservation of cultural heritage and the conduct of clean-up operations.

Cohesion and Reforms Commissioner Eliza Ferreira said: “The EU Solidarity Fund is a special instrument through which we support Member States in their recovery efforts from large-scale catastrophic natural disasters and stand in solidarity with those affected. This aid not only provides relief and contributes to emergency costs, but also helps EU countries rebuild to better standards in the context of the challenges posed by climate change.»

This funding is proposed following the requests of the countries concerned for assistance from the TAEE. When the Commission’s proposal is approved by the Parliament and the Council, the financial aid will be able to be disbursed without delay in a single installment for each of the applicant countries.

Since it was established in 2002, the EFSI has mobilized over €8.6 billion for 130 disasters (110 natural disasters and 20 health emergencies) in 24 Member States (plus the United Kingdom) and 4 acceding countries (Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey).

Katerina Plati