WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2440/97 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Compensation for damage caused by flooding in Corinth
Date: 1997-07-16
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: Community budget, EU aid, Peloponnese, aid to disaster victims, damage, emergency aid, flood, indemnification, natural disaster

17. 3. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 82/79

›  What amount in ECU has Austria received under this programme in the past two years? What percentage

was utilized in the two new Member States Finland and Sweden, compared to Austria?

›  How  many  mobility  scholarships  and  teaching  contracts  abroad  were  used  for  professors,  lecturers  and
students?  What  percentage  of  the  resources  was  used  by  people  in  Austria,  compared  to  France  and
Germany?

›  How many people participated in education and exchange projects, and how many foreign language teachers
took advantage of opportunities for training abroad? What percentage of the resources was used by people in
Austria, compared to Italy and the United Kingdom?

›  On what will the Commission place the emphasis in the educational sphere in the next two years?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission

(7 October 1997)

The Commission would point out that this question is exactly the same as the Honourable Member(cid:146)s Written
Question E-2347/97.

The  Commission  would  therefore  refer  the  Honourable  Member  to  the  answer  it  has  already  given  to  that
question (1).

(1)  See page 61.

(98/C 82/130)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2440/97

by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission

(16 July 1997)

Subject: Compensation for damage caused by flooding in Corinth

Last winter the City of Corinth experienced widespread flooding, resulting in the loss of human life and the
destruction of some people(cid:146)s entire property: the damage caused was indescribable and was aggravated by the
City(cid:146)s virtually non-existent sewage network and by the lack of town planning.

Immediately  after  making  an  inventory  of  the  damage,  the  Greek  authorities  announced  that  they  would  be
granting compensation to the victims.

Will the Commission say:

1.  has any provision been made by the EU to compensate people who lost their property in this disaster?

2. 

if so, how much compensation has been provided for?

3.  has this compensation finally been paid to the victims?

4. 

is  it  aware  how  much  compensation  has  been  granted  by  the  Greek  authorities  and  does  it  consider  it
commensurate with the scale of the disaster?

Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 1997)

The Commission would like to express its wholehearted sympathy for the victims of the floods which hit Corinth
last winter.

As the budget heading for (cid:145)Emergency aid to disaster victims in the Community(cid:146) has been given only a token
entry in the Community budget for the second year running, the Community does not have the appropriations
needed to grant aid of this type.

Furthermore, the Commission would point out that the aim of Community action on this front has never been to
compensate victims for damage caused by a disaster, but rather to demonstrate Community solidarity with those
of its citizens affected by disasters of exceptional gravity and scale.