Brussels, 03 rd March 2010
The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF)
The EUSF was created in response to the severe floods in Central Europe in the summer of 2002. The EUSF regulation 1 entered into force on 15 November 2002. EU Member States and countries negotiating accession to the Union (currently Turkey and Croatia) can request financial aid in the event of a major natural disaster.
The EUSF is a relatively straightforward instrument in administrative terms. Its principle characteristics are as follows:
3. What is the threshold for assistance?
The EUSF provides emergency aid in the event of a major natural disaster, i.e. if direct damage exceeds € 3 billion at 2002 prices (in 2010 this amounts to roughly € 3.4 billion) or 0.6% of the gross national income of the affected country, whichever is the lower. Exceptionally, the EUSF can be mobilised even if the threshold is not met for: (i) a neighbouring State that is affected by the same major disaster as an eligible state; or, (ii) extraordinary regional disasters affecting the majority of the population of the region concerned and having serious and lasting effects on its economic stability and living conditions.
4. What measures can be financed by the EUSF?
In principle, payments from the Fund are limited to finance emergency operations undertaken by the public authorities to alleviate non-insurable damages (such as rescue services, restoring essential infrastructure, providing temporary accommodation, clean-up operations of disaster-stricken areas, protecting cultural heritage assets from further damage etc). Damage to private property and income losses, including in agriculture, are not covered.
5. What is the annual budget?
The EUSF has an annual budget € 1 billion. However, the actual amount mobilised varies from year to year, depending on the occurrence of disasters (to date varying between EUR 728 million mobilised in 2002 and EUR 19 million in 2008). The amount available annually for extraordinary regional disasters is limited to 7.5% of the EUSF's annual budget (€ 75 million).
7. How is the amount of aid calculated?
A country affected by a disaster receives a lower rate of aid of 2.5% for the part of the damage below the threshold of 0.6% of GNI or € 3.4 billion and a higher share of aid of 6% for the part of the damage exceeding the threshold. This ensures that for the same amount of damage relatively poorer countries would receive more aid in absolute terms than richer ones.
8. What is the procedure for submitting an application?
The national authorities of the affected country may submit an application to the Commission no later than 10 weeks after the occurrence of the first damage (the Commission cannot take the initiative). The Commission then assesses the application and decides whether to activate the EUSF together with the amount of any aid considered appropriate and proposes its mobilisation to the budgetary authority. The aid is paid in a single instalment after the signing of an implementation agreement with beneficiary State. Once the aid has been paid out, it can be used to re-finance emergency measures back-dated to day one of the disaster.
9. How many applications have been received to date?
(State of play in February 2010): Since 2002, the Commission has received 69 applications for financial assistance from the Fund of which 33, mostly for major disasters, led to the granting of financial support totalling more than € 2.15 billion.
Since 2002, the Commission has received 69 applications for financial assistance from the Fund of which 33 led to the granting of financial support totalling more than €2.15 billion.
Council Regulation (EC) N° 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund