Considerations on COM(2018)150 - Mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Greece, Spain, France and Portugal

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dossier COM(2018)150 - Mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Greece, Spain, France and Portugal.
document COM(2018)150 EN
date May 30, 2018
 
table>(1)The European Union Solidarity Fund (‘the Fund’) aims to enable the Union to respond in a rapid, efficient and flexible manner to emergency situations in order to show solidarity with the population of regions struck by natural disasters.
(2)The Fund is not to exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 500 000 000 (2011 prices), as laid down in Article 10 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 (3).

(3)On 1 September 2017, Greece submitted an application to mobilise the Fund, following an earthquake that affected the island of Lesbos in the Northern Aegean on 12 June 2017.

(4)On 22 December 2017, Spain submitted an application to mobilise the Fund, following wildfires in north-western Spain in the region of Galicia during the period 10 to 17 October 2017.

(5)On 27 November 2017, France submitted an application to mobilise the Fund, following hurricane Irma that crossed the island of Saint Martin on 5 and 6 September 2017 and hurricane Maria that struck Guadeloupe on 18 and 19 September 2017.

(6)On 17 July 2017, Portugal submitted its initial application for a contribution from the Fund following severe fires that broke out on 17 June 2017. However, following additional fires that hit Portugal in the period from June to October 2017, Portugal submitted updates to its application on 13 October 2017 and again on 14 December 2017 including a revised estimate of the cumulative amount of damage caused by the fires between June and October 2017.

(7)The applications by Greece, Spain, France and Portugal meet the conditions for providing a financial contribution from the Fund, as laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002.

(8)The Fund should therefore be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution to Greece, France, Portugal and Spain.

(9)In order to minimise the time taken to mobilise the Fund, this Decision should apply from the date of its adoption,