EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn on Wednesday announced an aid package worth nearly EUR47 million for regions in Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia, hit by a series of natural disasters in late 2013 and early 2014.
The proposed aid of EUR16.3m to Italy is in response to the serious flooding in Sardinia in November 2013, while EUR3.7m is earmarked for Greece to help cover the costs of an earthquake and several aftershocks in Kefalonia and the Ionian Islands in January-March 2014. Both Slovenia and Croatia were severely affected by an ice storm in January and February 2014 and have been granted aid worth EUR18.4m and EUR8.6m respectively.
The fund, proposed by the European Commission, was signed by Commissioner Hahn on Wednesday. Hahn, who oversees the Fund, said the amount of funding proposed will enable Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia to recover from their respective disasters and reimburse rescue costs in the affected regions.
He added: "These amounts are specific and targeted to help address the immediate and direct impact of natural disasters."
The support, under the European Solidarity Fund, still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council. It will go some way in covering the emergency costs incurred by the public authorities in these four Member States due to the disasters. The grant will in particular, help to restore vital infrastructure and services, reimburse the cost of emergency and rescue operations, and help cover some of the clean-up costs in the disaster-stricken regions.
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