It is the biggest EU aid allocation since the Fund was set up in 2002, and will “help this highly productive region get back on its feet,” said on Wednesday Johannes Hahn, EC Commissioner for Regional Policy to ANSA.
The EU Solidarity Fund grants aid of up to 1bn euro a year to EU member states, and countries preparing to join the bloc, if they are hit by major natural disasters. The aid for Italy can be found from the existing EU budget but it still has to be approved by EU governments and the European Parliament.
The assistance is earmarked primarily for Emilia Romagna, with some aid also promised to Venetoand neighboring areas in Lombardia (all NUTS 2 regions). A Commission statement said Italy had reported direct damage worth 13.3bn euros – that is, 3bn euros more than the damage caused by the L’Aquila earthquake in the Abruzzo region in 2009.
An example of good governance both at regional and EU level.
