on the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Croatia in relation to the series of earthquakes starting from 28 December 2020

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.Context of the proposal

This decision covers the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund (hereinafter referred to as ‘the EUSF’) in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Regulation’) for an amount of EUR 319 192 359 to provide assistance to Croatia further to the series of earthquakes that occurred between 28 December 2020 and 21 February 2021.

This mobilisation is accompanied by DEC No 28/2021 that proposes to transfer the amount of EUR 277 866 852 from the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve (hereinafter referred as ‘the SEAR’) reserve line to the EUSF operational budget line, both in commitments and payments. These appropriations will be used for the payment of the remaining amount to Croatia, after deducting the already paid advance of EUR 41 325 507.

2.Information and conditions

2.1Croatia – earthquakes starting from 28 December 2020

On 28 December 2020, a strong earthquake (5,0 ML seismic magnitude and VI-VII intensity of EMS) hit the Petrinja area, with an epicentre in the vicinity of the town of Petrinja. It was just the foreshock of the earthquake that took place the day after. On 29 December 2020, a 6,2 ML magnitude earthquake hit the wider Petrinja area and caused casualties and significant damage. The most affected areas were the towns of Sisak, Petrinja and Glina with the surrounding villages. In the centre of Sisak, 90% of buildings were damaged to various degrees. Damages were recorded also in the Karlovacka and Zagrebacka counties. On 30 December 2020, several strong aftershocks of 2,7 ML – 5,2 ML have been recorded. After the initial shocks, a series of aftershocks affected the epicentre area, with more than 4 000 aftershocks recorded in the first few months.

Subsequently, the Republic of Croatia applied for financial assistance from the European Union Solidarity Fund relating to the series of earthquakes that occurred between 28 December 2020 and 21 February 2021.

The Commission services have carried out a thorough examination of the application in accordance with the Regulation, in particular with Articles 2, 3 and 4 thereof. The most important elements of the assessment are set out below:

(1)On 18 March 2021, the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter referred to as ‘Croatia’) submitted an application for a contribution from the European Union Solidarity Fund (hereinafter referred to as 'EUSF') relating to the series of earthquakes starting from 28 December 2020.

(2)The application was submitted within the twelve-week period after the first occurrence of damage caused by the disaster and contains all the information required under Article 4 of the Regulation.

(3)The earthquake is of natural origin and therefore falls within the field of application of the EUSF.

(4)The Croatian authorities estimate the total direct damage at EUR 5 508 740 811. This amount represents 10,21% of Croatia's Gross National Income (GNI), and it exceeds the ‘major disaster’ threshold for mobilising the EUSF of EUR 323,774 million (0,6% of Croatia’s GNI in 2021); therefore, the disaster qualifies as a ‘major natural disaster’ and thus falls within the main field of application of the Regulation.

(5)The total direct damage is the basis for the calculation of the amount of the financial contribution from the Solidarity Fund. The financial contribution may only be used for essential emergency operations as defined in Article 3 of the Regulation.

(6)In their application, the Croatian authorities describe in detail the event and the entity of the damage. The earthquake of 29 December 2020 that hit the wider Petrinja area was of 6,2 magnitude and caused seven fatalities, dozens of injured people and significant damage: it was felt in a very wide area, including Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary. This earthquake inflicted damage to buildings not only in the epicentre region but in a very wide area throughout the territory of Croatia. It also affected buildings previously damaged by the Zagreb earthquake of 22 March 2020 and resulted in a significant and complicated effort to assess if there was new damage to already vulnerable buildings. In combination with a series of 4 000 aftershocks recorded, it has evolved in the greatest earthquake disaster in modern years of Croatia. On 4 January 2021, the Croatian government declared a state of natural disaster (earthquake) for the area of the Sisak-Moslavina County, the Zagreb County and the Karlovac County.

(7)It is estimated that 1,55 million people (more than one-third of the total population of Croatia) were most severely affected by the series of earthquakes in December 2020 and the aftershocks. The most common category of damaged dwellings were family homes as they constitute the biggest part of the overall housing stock. Housing sector constitutes 72% of all damaged buildings with the remaining 28% dispersed across other sectors. 85,25% of the damaged residential units are located in the Sisak-Moslavina County. Many people were left homeless as the damage incurred by the housing sector is greater than the damage in all other sectors combined.

(8)The earthquakes caused significant damage to educational infrastructure (a total of 271 buildings were damaged), as well as to architectural heritage and cultural infrastructure in the affected administrative units. The most severe damage occurred at the general hospital in the Sisak-Moslavina County, the main medical provider in the region. Nearly all hospital buildings in Sisak and Petrinja were significantly damaged by the earthquake, making these buildings unsafe for patients. A total of 324 buildings used by the state administration bodies and other institutions were damaged. Among the damaged buildings, six are classified as cultural heritage.

(9)The independent assessment carried out by the Commission services has confirmed the affected area as well as the overall number of the exposed population declared in the application. The activation of the EC Copernicus Emergency Management Service – Rapid Mapping allowed to perform analysis of very-high-resolution satellite images. The analysis confirmed the damages to the buildings in the towns of Petrinja, Sisak and Glina, and confirmed the spatial distribution of the damages declared in the application. A dedicated analysis performed by the Joint Research Centre established that, in comparison with the earthquake of 22 March 2020 with the epicentre closer to Zagreb, the impact of the Petrinja earthquake is significantly higher (almost the double) in terms of exposed population and built-up area, but due to the lower reconstruction costs and the lower amount of historical value buildings this has resulted in significantly lower total direct damage amount. The Commission’s assessment confirmed the plausibility of the total direct damage being in the order of magnitude of the one estimated by the Croatian authorities.

(10)Croatia estimated the cost of emergency and recovery operations eligible under Article 3(2) of the Regulation at EUR 1,66 billion and presented it broken down by type of operation. The largest share concerns the costs for temporary accommodation (over EUR 368 million), immediate restoration of affected natural zones to avoid immediate effects from soil erosion (over EUR 304 million) and cleaning up of disaster stricken areas (over EUR 228 million).