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: 2004-03-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, France, Malta, Spain, amending budget, commitment of expenditure, interinstitutional agreement, natural disaster

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 9.3.2004 
COM(2004) 168 final 

 . 

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) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
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 France, Malta and Spain which 
were  affected  by  disasters  resulting  from  severe  flooding  (Malta  and  France)  and  by  forest 
fires (Spain), total estimates of the damage caused are as follows: 

France 
Malta 
Spain 
Total   

Direct damage 
785,000,000 euros 
30,172,000 euros 
53,231,000 euros 
868,403,000 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 21,916,995 euros, to be allocated under headings 3 and 7 
of the financial perspective. 

The Commission will present an amending budget (AB) in order to enter in the 2004 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, Mr Verheugen and Mr Fischler on 
six applications to mobilise the European Union Solidarity Fund introduced by Greece, France, Spain, 
Malta and Italy. 

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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) 

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

(2)  Malta  submitted  an  application  to  mobilise  the  Fund  on  10  November  2003, 
concerning  a  disaster  caused  by  storm  and  flooding,  Spain  submitted  one  on 
01 October  2003  concerning  a  fire-related  disaster  and  France  did  the  same  on 
26 January 2004 concerning a disaster caused by flooding. 

(3) 

(4) 

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

The  cases  of  the  storm  and  flooding  in  Malta  in  September  2003,  the  forest  fire  in 
Spain in the summer of 2003 and the flooding in southern France in December 2003 
fulfil the criteria to mobilise the European Union Solidarity Fund. 

4 
5  

OJ C 172 of 18.6.1999, p. 1. 
OJ L 311 of 14.11.2002, p. 3. 

3 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 

For  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Union  for  the  financial  year  2004,  the  European 
Union  Solidarity  Fund  shall  be  mobilised  to  provide  the  sum  of  21,916,995  euros  in 
commitment appropriations. 

Article 2 

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

Done at Brussels, […] 

The European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President   

4