Irish Regions Office Website

November 27, 2009

Flood Relief from EU?

The devastating flooding across parts of Ireland has brought the issue of EU funding into stark perspective. Each year the EU sets aside EUR1 billion for the Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to retrospectively meet a small proportion of the costs associated with emergency operations undertaken by public authorities to alleviate damage caused by major natural disasters.

The following activities may qualify:
- Immediate infrastructure restoration;
- Temporary accommodation and emergency services;
- Securing of prevention infrastructures
- Protection of cultural heritage;
- Clean-up operations.
This is limited to non-insurable damage.

The fund (proper) only kicks in once damage entails costs above a certain threshold having been incurred. For Ireland (based on reported national income), this figure is set at EUR972.729 million. Eligible damage costs below this may be aided at a 2.5% rate while costs beyond that can be reimbursed at 6%.

However, even if this level of expense is not reached, EUR75 of the annual budget has been ring-fenced for circumstances ''where a region has been affected by an extraordinary disaster, mainly a natural one, affecting the major part of its population, with serious and lasting repercussions on living conditions and the economic stability of the region''. This mechanism has been deployed in relation to severe flooding on a number of occasions in recent years: providing aid (at the 2.5% rate) to a value of EUR11.78m for Romania (2009), EUR8.25m for Slovenia (2008), EUR9.3m for Greece (2007) and EUR20.35m for Bulgaria (2007).

Crucially the application, which is tabled by the national government, must be made within 10 weeks of the first reported damage occurring. According to available figures, having dealt with the June Italian earthquake and January's hurricane damage in France, EUR385m remains in the 2009 reserve including EUR63.22m for extraordinary regional disasters.

More information

Posted by iroronan at November 27, 2009 04:35 PM