Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund according to point 3 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the financing of the European Union Solidarity Fund, supplementing the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure
Date: 2003-07-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, aid to disaster victims, budgetary discipline (EU), budgetary procedure, commitment of expenditure, emergency aid, financial aid, institutional agreement, natural disaster

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 16.7.2003
COM(2003) 431 final

2003/0166 (COD)

Proposal for a

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund according to point 3 of the
Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002 between the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission on the financing of the European Union Solidarity Fund,
supplementing the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline
and improvement of the budgetary procedure

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The  Interinstitutional  Agreement  of  7  November  20021  allows  for  the  mobilisation  of  the
European Union Solidarity Fund through a flexibility mechanism, within the annual ceiling of
1  billion  euros,  over  and  above  the  relevant  headings  of  the  financial  perspective.  The
conditions of eligibility to the Fund are detailed in Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/20022.

On  the  basis  of  applications  for  assistance  from  the  Fund  by  Spain  and  Italy  which  were
affected  by  disasters  resulting  from  the  sinking  of  the  Prestige  oil  tanker,  an  earthquake  in
Molise and Apulia, and the eruption of Mount Etna at the end of 2002, total estimates of the
damage caused are as follows:

Prestige
Molise
Mount Etna
Total

Direct damage
436 million euros
1 558 million euros
849 million euros
2 843 million euros

In the light of the examination of these applications3, and considering the maximum possible
grant  from  the  Fund  as  well  as  the  scope  for  reallocating  appropriations  under  the  heading
requiring additional expenditure,  the Commission proposes  to  mobilise  the  European  Union
Solidarity Fund for a total amount of 56.250 million euros, to be allocated under headings 3 of
the financial perspective.

The Commission will present an amending budget (AB) in order to enter in the 2003 budget
specific  commitment  appropriations,  broken  down  by  beneficiary  country,  as  requested  in
Point 4 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002.

1

2

3

OJ C 283 of 20.11.2002, p. 1
OJ L 311 of 14.11.2002, p. 3
Communication  to  the  Commission  from  Mr  Barnier,  Mrs  Schreyer  and  Mr  Fischler  on  four
applications  introduced  by  Spain  and  Italy  to  mobilise  the  European  Union  Solidarity  Fund  for  the
"Prestige" oil spill, the flooding in Northern Italy, the earthquake in Molise and the eruption of Mount
Etna setting out the analysis of the Commission of the requests.

2

                                                
2003/0166 (COD)

Proposal for a

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund according to point 3 of the
Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002 between the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission on the financing of the European Union Solidarity Fund,
supplementing the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline
and improvement of the budgetary procedure

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002 between the European
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  on  the  financing  of  the  European  Union
Solidarity Fund, supplementing the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 on budgetary
discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure4, and in particular point 3 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) N° 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing
the European Union Solidarity Fund5,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The  European  Union  has  created  a  European  Union  Solidarity  Fund  (the  "Fund")  to
show solidarity with the population of regions struck by disasters;

The Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002 allows the mobilisation of the
Fund within the annual ceiling of € 1 billion;

Regulation  (EC)  No  2012/2002  contains  the  provisions  whereby  the  Fund  may  be
mobilised;

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

For  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Union  for  the  financial  year  2003,  the  European
Union  Solidarity  Fund  shall  be  mobilised  to  provide  the  sum  of  56.250  million  euros  in
commitment appropriations.

4

5

OJ C 172 of 18.06.1999, p. 1.
OJ L 311  of 14.11.2002, p. 3.

3

                                                
Article 2

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament
The President

For the Council
The President

4