IP/02/1940
Brussels, 19 December 2002 - Michel
Barnier, Commissioner for regional policy, and Bohuslav Sobotka, the Czech
Minister of Finance, have signed an agreement involving € 129 million
in assistance for the regions affected by the floods last August. This
is one of the first four aid packages paid for out of the European Union
Solidarity Fund. This Fund, proposed by the Commission in September, has
been set up within three months with a view to providing quick EU emergency
assistance after major disasters. The sums being allocated to the Czech
Republic are to serve, among other things, for reimbursing expenditure
on aid operations, immediately securing flood-protection facilities, repairing
waste-water facilities, restoring energy and drinking-water supplies as
well as transport infrastructure.
Michel Barnier, responsible for regional policy and administering the Solidarity Fund, said: "This Fund is an expression of Europe-wide solidarity on which every country and all European citizens can count in the event of major natural disasters. Europe is making clear that it supports its citizens unreservedly, not least in very serious situations." Commissioner Michaele Schreyer, responsible for budget, said : "The 129 million € from the EU-Budget represent a major support effort in favour of the Czech Republic. They are a very tangible sign of the solidarity of the EU."
Payments from the Fund will start to flow immediately following signature by the Czech Government and the Commission.
The Czech Republic will receive a grant of €129 million from EUSF to be used in the areas directly affected by the disaster. It shall contribute to the financing of the following measures :
- immediate restoration of infrastructure
in sectors such as energy delivery, water and waste water treatment, transport
(including the Prague metro system), schools, postal services and provisional
renewal of telephone networks;
- services to the affected population
such as temporary accommodation and support to rescue services;
- immediate securing of preventive infrastructures such as riverbanks and strengthening of destabilised buildings.
Notes
After the serious flooding in Central Europe in August 2002, it was decided to create a new EU financial instrument in order to support Member States and candidate countries in the event of large-scale disasters. The Commission proposed an Inter-institutional Agreement (involving Parliament, Council and Commission) in order to make € 1 billion available each year under the appropriate headings of the financial perspective for immediate assistance in such cases.
It also submitted a proposal for a Council Regulation setting up a Solidarity Fund of the European Union to define the detailed terms and conditions on which claims on the Fund would be met.
The political agreement of Parliament and the Council was secured on 22 October using the conciliation procedure. The Inter-institutional Agreement was adopted on 7 November, the Regulation on 11 November.
Countries asking for assistance from the Fund are required to send in a provisional estimate of the damage suffered and to fulfil various criteria in order to guarantee that the resources are applied where they are most urgently needed. A major disaster is deemed to be one which causes damage estimated at over € 3 billion or more than 0.6% of the GNI of the country concerned.
In exceptional cases, assistance can also be given to regions in which the majority of the population is affected by a extraordinary disaster having serious and lasting consequences for the living conditions and economic stability of the area. For such cases the maximum annual amount available is limited to a total of € 75 million.. Particular account is to be taken of isolated, peripheral and outermost regions.
To ensure that the Fund's resources are available at all times and potential requirements can be met right up to the end of a given year, a quarter of the annual envelope of the Fund must still remain on 1 October each year.
The Regulation also provides for using the Fund retroactively to deal with the consequences of disasters, which have occurred since August 2002. The Member States, Parliament and the Commission have stressed several times that the support from the Fund must reach the countries concerned as quickly as possible.
The Fund, with an annual envelope of € 1 billion, can be used for the following purposes:
- repair of damaged infrastructure and plant in the fields of energy supply, water supply and sewage treatment, telecommunications, transport, health and education;
- provision of emergency shelters and mobilisation of emergency services to meet the immediate needs of the population affected;
- safeguarding of protective installations and measures for the immediate protection of the cultural heritage;
- clean-up work in the disaster area, including restoration of the devastated countryside.
Following the flood disasters in the summer of 2002, four countries are being supported by the Solidarity Fund: besides the Czech Republic , these are Austria, Germany and France.
For more information, see also IP/02/1686 of 15 November 2002