Report from the Commission - European Union Solidarity Fund Annual Report 2005
Date: 2006-08-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financial instrument, activity report, emergency aid, fund (EU), man-made disaster, natural disaster, public health

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.8.2006 
COM(2006) 444 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

European Union Solidarity Fund 
Annual report 2005 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

European Union Solidarity Fund 
Annual report 2005 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

New applications received in 2005 .............................................................................. 3 

Financing...................................................................................................................... 5 

Monitoring ................................................................................................................... 6 

Closures........................................................................................................................ 6 

Proposal for a new Solidarity Fund Regulation ........................................................... 7 

Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 8 

Annex 1 European Union Solidarity Fund applications in 2005 ............................................... 9 

Annex 2 Criteria to mobilise the EU Solidarity Fund.............................................................. 10 

Annex 3 Determination of the amount of aid........................................................................... 11 

Annex 4 Thresholds for major disasters applicable in 2005 .................................................... 12 

Annex 5 Proposal for a new Solidarity Fund Regulation - Synopsis of main features............ 13 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  European  Union  Solidarity  Fund  entered  into  force  on  15  November  20021. 
Article 12 of the Regulation provides that a report on the activity of the Fund in the 
previous year be presented to the European Parliament and to the Council. This, the 
third  report,  presents  the  activities  of  the  Fund  in  2005  covering  three  areas:  the 
treatment  of  new  applications  received  in  the  course  of  2005,  monitoring  of  the 
ongoing  implementation  of  grants,  and  the  assessment  of  implementation  reports 
with a view to preparing these for closure. 

In addition, the report presents the proposal for a new Regulation on the Solidarity 
Fund presented by the Commission on 6 April 2005 for the period after the expiry of 
the current Financial Perspective in 2006. 

2. 

NEW APPLICATIONS RECEIVED IN 2005 

In  the  course  of  2005  the  Commission  received  12  new  applications  for  Solidarity 
Fund assistance. Annex 1 gives a detailed overview of all cases. 

On 14 February 2005, Italy applied for assistance relating to a flooding in Sardinia in 
December  2004.  The  disaster  was  claimed 
to  have  caused  damage  of 
EUR 223 million  which  represents  less  than  7%  of  the  normal  major  disaster 
threshold for triggering the Fund. Based on the information provided by the Italian 
authorities the Commission concluded that the flooding did not meet the conditions 
of  the  Regulation  for  extraordinary  regional  disasters  (i.e.  a  demonstration  that  the 
major  part  of  the  population  in  the  region  had  been  affected,  and  that  serious  and 
lasting repercussions on living conditions and on the economic stability of the region 
are to be expected). On 10 June 2005 the Commission therefore decided to reject the 
application  and  informed  the  Italian  authorities  of  this  decision  by  letter  of 
27 June 2005. 

The  Greek  authorities  submitted  an  application  on  22  April  2005,  relating  to  a 
flooding that occurred in February 2005 in the area of the Evros river on the Eastern 
border  of  Greece.  Supplementary  information  was  provided  in  August  and 
December 2005.  As  the  disaster  caused  total  direct  damages  of  EUR 135  million, 
representing  less  than  15  %  of  the  major  disaster  threshold  of  EUR 918  million 
applicable  to  Greece  (i.e.  0.6%  of  GNI),  the  application  was  based  on  the 
extraordinary  regional  disaster  criterion.  Following  a  thorough  analysis  of  the 
application, the Commission services concluded that, while the flooding has caused 
some notable damage locally, the affected region was not significant in the national 
context and the criteria in the Regulation regarding serious and lasting repercussions 
on living conditions and the economic stability of the affected region were not met. 
The Commission therefore decided on 23 December 2005 not to mobilise the Fund 
and informed the Greek authorities of this decision by letter of 13 January 2006. 

1 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  N°  2012/2002  of  11  November  2002  establishing  the  European  Union 
Solidarity Fund, OJ L 311/3 of 14.11.2002, in the following referred to as “the Regulation”. 

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In  the  following  nine  cases,  the  Commission  decided  to  propose  to  the  budget 
authority to mobilise the Fund: 

Slovakia applied on 24 January 2005 relating to a wind storm that struck the country 
the  Slovak  authorities  submitted 
in  November  2004.  On  1 March 2005, 
complementary  information.  In  the  application,  Slovakia  estimated  the  total  direct 
damage at approximately EUR 225 million. The Commission services examined the 
calculation of direct damages, on the basis of an assessment of satellite imagery and 
aerial  photography  carried  out  by  the  Joint  Research  Centre,  and  considered  it 
necessary  to  slightly  modify  the  calculation  of  damage  to  forests.  These 
modifications  concerned  the  extent  of  physical  damage  and  assumptions  regarding 
forestation and maintenance costs. The maximum level of direct damage that could 
be  taken  into  account  was  EUR 195  million.  As  this  amount  is  above  the  major 
disaster  threshold  of  0.6%  of  Slovakia’s  GNI  (EUR 172.3  million),  the  disaster 
qualified as a “major natural disaster” and the Commission accordingly decided on 
6 June  2005  to  mobilise  the  Fund.  After  the  corresponding  amending  budget  was 
adopted  by  the  budget  authority,  the  agreement  on  the  implementation  of  the  grant 
was signed on 17 October 2005. The Commission paid out the Solidarity Fund grant 
of EUR 5.67 million on 7 November 2005. 

On 8 January 2005 a major storm hit parts of northern Europe causing severe damage 
in  a  number  of  countries.  The  Commission  received  applications  for  financial 
assistance  from 
the  Solidarity  Fund  from  Sweden  and  Latvia  (both  on 
10 March 2005), Estonia (14 March 2005) and Lithuania (16 March 2005). In the 
four  countries,  the  storm  caused  severe  damage  to  agriculture,  forestry,  electricity 
and  infrastructure  networks,  transport  and  communication.  The  estimated  total 
damages amount to approximately EUR 192 million in Latvia, to EUR 48 million in 
Estonia  and  to  around  EUR 15  million  in  Lithuania.  In  Sweden,  damages  were 
particularly high and were estimated at nearly EUR 2.3 billion.  

As the damages in Sweden, Latvia and Estonia exceeded the respective threshold of 
0.6%  of  GNI  (EUR 1.603  billion  for  Sweden,  EUR 59.092  million  for  Latvia  and 
EUR 45.209  million  for  Estonia),  the  disasters  qualified  in  each  of  these  three 
countries  as  a  “major  natural  disaster”.  The  damages  in  Lithuania  were  below  the 
major disaster threshold (EUR 94.261 million). However, as Lithuania was affected 
by the same wind storm which led to the major disaster in Latvia, the condition for 
exceptionally benefiting from the Fund, whereby a neighbouring country affected by 
“the same disaster” can also benefit from assistance from the Fund, was found to be 
met.  Consequently,  the  Commission  proposed  on  22  August  2005  a  total  of 
EUR 92.88 million to be granted to the four countries, of which EUR 81.73 million 
to  Sweden,  EUR 9.49  million  to  Latvia,  EUR 1.29  million  to  Estonia  and 
EUR 0.38 million to Lithuania. The respective Solidarity Fund grants were paid out 
in  the  first  half  of  2006,  after  conclusion  of  the  budgetary  procedure  and  the 
signature of the implementing agreements. 

Between April and August 2005 severe floods hit large parts of central and eastern 
Europe  causing  severe  damage  in  a  number  of  countries.  Bulgaria,  Romania  and 
Austria applied for financial assistance from the Solidarity Fund. 

The first application from Bulgaria was received on 29 July 2005 and related to the 
damage  caused  by  the  floods  in  May.  Supplementary  information  was  provided  on 

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29 September 2005. The total direct damage was estimated at EUR 222.28 million. 
The  Bulgarian  authorities  submitted  a  second  application  on  24  August  2005, 
completed by supplementary information received on 6 October 2005, relating to the 
floods starting in early August. The total direct damage of this second disaster was 
estimated  at  EUR 237.47 million.  As  the  damage  amounts  in  both  applications 
exceeded  the  threshold  of  0.6  %  of  Bulgaria’s  GNI  (EUR 103.27  million)  the 
disasters qualified as “major natural disasters”. 

The  first  application  from  Romania  was  received  on  22  June  2005,  relating  to  the 
damages caused by the floods in April. Supplementary information was provided on 
5  August  and  29  December  2005.  The  total  direct  damage  was  estimated  at 
EUR 489.53  million.  The  Romanian  authorities  submitted  a  second  application  on 
received  on 
9 September  2005,  completed  by  supplementary 
7 October and  29  December  2005,  relating  to  the  floods  starting  in  July.  The  total 
direct  damage  of  this  second  flooding  was  estimated  at  EUR 1.05  billion.  As  the 
damage amounts in both applications exceeded the threshold of 0.6 % of Romania’s 
GNI (EUR 302.11 million) the disasters qualified as “major natural disasters”.  

information 

information  was 

Austria  applied  for  assistance  on  19  October  2005,  relating  to  flooding  that  had 
occurred in parts of the two Austrian Länder Vorarlberg and Tyrol in August 2005. 
Additional 
the  Austrian  authorities  on 
12 January 2006. The total direct damage was estimated at EUR 591.94 million. As 
the  damages  were  below  the  major  disaster  threshold  of  EUR 1  336.348  million 
applicable to Austria (i.e. 0.6% of GNI), it was based on the extraordinary regional 
disaster  criterion.  At  the  end  of  the  period  covered  by  this  annual  report  the 
assessment of the application was still ongoing. 

received 

from 

On  23  December  2005,  the  Commission  decided  to  propose  to  mobilise  the  Fund 
with respect to the two applications received from Bulgaria. On the three remaining 
applications (the two disasters in Romania and the flooding in Austria) the decisions 
to mobilise the Fund were taken in March 2006. 

3. 

FINANCING 

The  cases  of  the  wind  storm  affecting  Slovakia  and  of  the  wind  storm  in  Northern 
Europe  were  dealt  with  in  two  separate  amending  budgets.  Preliminary  Draft 
Amending  Budget  5/20052  for  the  Slovakian  case  was  approved  by  the  Budgetary 
Authority on 7 September 2005. The payment could be made, after adoption of the 
grant  decision  and  after 
implementation  agreement  was  signed  on 
17 October 2005.  Preliminary  Draft  Amending  Budget  6/20053  covering  the  wind 
storm in Northern Europe was approved only late in the year, on 17 November 2005, 
so  that  most  of  the  necessary  additional  steps  (grant  decision,  implementation 
agreement) and, thus, the payments could only be made in 2006. While the payment 
appropriations  for  the  aid  to  Slovakia  were  provided  from  the  budget  line  for  the 
Cohesion  Fund,  the  significant  amount  of  required  resources  for  the  four  cases 
relating  to  the  wind  storm  in  Northern  Europe  and  the  unavailability  of 

the 

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SEC(2005) 758 of 6 June 2005. 
SEC(2005) 1083 of 8 September 2005. 

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corresponding  free  payment  appropriations  at  the  time  of  the  budgetary  procedure 
made  it  necessary  to  include  a  request  for  additional  payment  appropriations  in 
PDAB  6/2005.  For  the  cases  of  flooding  in  Bulgaria,  Romania  and  Austria,  the 
Commission proposed an amending budget for the budget of 2006; the annual report 
of next year will report on this.  

The amounts of aid in each case were determined on the basis of the standard method 
previously developed by the Commission and explained in detail in the annual report 
2002/2003 (see also annex 3 of the present report). The amounts of aid in 2005 were 
the following: 

Beneficiary

Disaster 

Category 

Wind Storm 
Slovakia 
Wind Storm 
Sweden 
Wind Storm 
Estonia 
Latvia 
Wind Storm 
Lithuania  Wind Storm 
Total 

major 
major 
major 
major 
neighbouring country 

Aid  
(million €) 

5.668
81.725
1.290
9.487
0.379
98.548

4. 

MONITORING 

In  2005,  the  Commission  undertook  two  monitoring  visits,  both  concerning  the 
implementation of Solidarity Fund grants following flood disasters. A visit to France 
in February concerned the Solidarity Fund grant paid out in July 2004. The visit to 
Malta in May concerned the implementation of the Solidarity Fund grant paid out in 
November  2004.  Both  visits  were  welcomed  by  the  authorities  concerned  and 
provided  the  occasion  to  respond  to  technical  issues  such  as  those  concerning 
eligibility  of  expenditure  and  control  issues.  They  also  allowed  the  Commission  to 
gain  an  impression  of  the  added  value  of  the  Solidarity  Fund  and  to  gather 
information  on  the  implementation  systems.  In  both  cases  it  was  found  that  an 
appropriate, effective and transparent implementation system had been put in place, 
that  implementation  was  progressing  at  very  satisfactory  pace  and  that  appropriate 
steps had been made to ensure respect for monitoring and control obligations. 

5. 

CLOSURES 

Article 8 (2)  of  Regulation 2012/2002 states that  no  later  than  six  months  after  the 
expiry  of  the  one-year  period  from  the  date  of  disbursement  of  the  grant,  the 
beneficiary State shall present a report on the financial execution of the grant with a 
statement justifying the expenditure (hereinafter: a “validity statement”). At the end 
of this procedure, the Commission shall wind up the assistance from the Fund. 

As regards the closure of assistance of cases for which the implementation report was 
received in 2004, the Commission closed the assistance on 22 February 2005 for aid 
which was granted to France. As regards the aid granted to Germany (2002 floods), 
the  Commission  received  clarifications  on  a  sub-statement  of  validity,  for  which 

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expenditure checks still needed to be carried out, in August 2005. On this basis, the 
Commission wound up the assistance on 3 November 2005. The Commission closed 
the assistance granted to the Czech Republic (2002 floods) after receiving additional 
information in May, August and September. This concerned in particular the amount 
of the grant that remained unused during the eligibility period. On 18 January 2006, 
the  Czech  authorities  specified  that  the  final  balance  of  unused  aid  on  the  source 
account amounted to EUR 390 524.32. The Commission initiated the procedures for 
the  recovery  of  this  amount  and  sent  the  corresponding  debit  note  to  the  Czech 
authorities on 16 February 2006.  

In  2005,  the  Commission  received  final  implementation  reports  for  grants  made  in 
2003  from  Spain  (Prestige  oil  spill),  Italy  (Molise  earthquake  and  Etna  volcanic 
eruption) and Portugal (forest fires). At the end of the period covered by this annual 
report the assessment of these implementation reports was still ongoing. 

6. 

PROPOSAL FOR A NEW SOLIDARITY FUND REGULATION 

During the first months of 2005 the Commission completed its preparatory work for 
a proposal of a new Solidarity Fund Regulation which was adopted on 6 April 20054 
as part of the legislative package accompanying the Financial Perspectives for 2007–
2013. The initial intention to bring together the various existing and envisaged crisis 
mechanisms  at  European  level  into  a  single  “Solidarity  and  Rapid  Reaction 
Instrument”,  as  announced  in  the  Commission  Communication  on  the  Financial 
Perspectives of 14 July 20045 had to be abandoned because of the incompatibility of 
the different legal bases required. 

Accordingly,  a  revised  approach  was  decided  by  the  Commission  essentially 
separating  the  civil  protection  and  solidarity  dimensions.  The  new  Solidarity  Fund 
proposal,  which  contains  a  number  of  innovative  elements  and  includes  an  impact 
assessment, was transmitted to the EP and Council on 8 April 2005.  

The essential new elements of the proposal are: in addition to natural disasters, the 
inclusion into the scope of the Fund of industrial and technological disasters, public 
health  emergencies  and  acts  of  terrorism;  the  lowering  of  the  thresholds  for 
triggering  the  Fund  to  EUR 1  bn  or  0.5%  of  GNI;  the  abolition  of  the  exceptional 
possibility  to  mobilise  the  Fund  for  disasters  with  damage  remaining  below  the 
threshold  (so-called  regional  disasters  criteria);  and  the  possibility  of  making 
advance  payments.  A  synoptic  comparison  of  the  current  and  the  proposed 
Regulations is presented in annex 5. 

There was only limited progress in the legislative procedure in 2005. In the European 
Parliament, a first exchange of views on the draft regulation took place in the REGI 
Committee.  In  the  Council,  the  Financial  Counsellors  working  group  had  a  first 
exchange  of  views  in  October  and  again  in  November  without  arriving  at  any 
conclusions.  The  proposal  was  also  presented  to  the  PROCIV  group  (civil 
protection).  At  the  EESC,  following  meetings  with  the  rapporteur  and  the  assigned 

4 

5 

Proposal  for  a  REGULATION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  OF  THE  COUNCIL 
establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund, COM(2005) 108 final of 6 April 2005 
COM(2004) 101. 

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study group, a generally favourable report was adopted on 27 October 2005 (EESC 
1256/2005). 

7. 

CONCLUSIONS 

A total of 12 new applications for Solidarity Fund assistance were received in 2005. 
For all nine cases relating to a major natural disaster, after careful examination of the 
information  provided,  the  Commission  was  able  to  propose  to  mobilise  the  Fund. 
These cases were subsequently endorsed by the Council and the European Parliament 
as the budgetary authority. In 2005, the Commission proposed a total amount of aid 
from  the  Fund  of  €  205  million  (2002:  EUR  728  m;  2003:  EUR  107.1  m;  2004: 
EUR 19.6 m). 

On  two  applications,  submitted  in  2005  under  the  ‘exceptional’  regional  disaster 
criterion, it was decided not to propose that the Fund should be mobilised. In these 
cases,  previous  experience  was  confirmed  that  the  conditions  for  a  successful 
application under this exceptional criterion - which according to the Regulation are 
to be examined by the Commission “with the utmost rigour” – are relatively difficult 
to meet. Member States and the Commission services invested considerable time and 
effort  in,  respectively,  preparing  and  assessing  applications  for  smaller  regional 
disasters that regularly lead to rejections. 

One  of  the  major  changes  in  the  proposed,  new  Solidarity  Fund  Regulation  is 
therefore to resort only to quantitative thresholds for the level of damage required to 
trigger  utilization  of  the  Fund.  As  compensation  for  the  suppression  of  the  present 
(non-quantitative)  ‘exceptional’  regional  disaster  criteria  the  quantitative  thresholds 
would  be  lowered.  These  two  elements,  taken  together,  would  improve  the 
transparency  of  the  Solidarity  Fund.  This  would  help  to  avoid  the  great  frustration 
that  follows  when  applications  prepared  by  Member  States'  administrations  with 
considerable effort are subsequently rejected because the exceptional criteria are very 
difficult  to  meet.  With  the  new  Solidarity  Fund  regulation,  the  national  authorities 
would have a clearer idea of when the Fund is likely to be able to support them in 
recovering from a disaster. The Commission's services have responded favourably to 
any  requests  from  the  national  authorities  in  the  countries  concerned  for  technical 
information relating to the EUSF Regulation and to the preparation of applications. 

The  proposal  for  the  new  Regulation,  which  was  adopted  by  the  college  of 
Commissioners on 6 April 2005, is currently on the table of European Parliament and 
the Council for decision. In the discussions in the different Committees concerned in 
the  European  Parliament  the  proposal  received  a  large  measure  of  support,  in 
particular as regards the eligibility provisions. Although progress in the Council has 
been  limited  in  2005,  the  Commission  is  determined  to  work  closely  with  Member 
States  with  a  view  to  reaching  agreement  with  the  Council  in  2006  so  that  the 
proposed  improvements  to  this  important  instrument  of  the  Union  can  enter  into 
force on 1 January 2007.  

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Annex 1 
European Union Solidarity Fund applications in 2005 

Applicant Country 

SK 

IT 

SE 

EE 

LV 

LT 

EL 

RO 

BG 

BG 

RO 

AT 

Name and nature of 
disaster 

Storm 
(Tatras) 

Sardinia 
flooding 

storm 

storm 

storm 

storm 

Evros 
flooding 

Spring 
flooding 

Spring 
flooding 

Summer 
flooding 

Summer 
flooding 

flooding 

First damage date 

19/11/04 

6/12/2004 

8/01/2005 

8/01/2005 

8/01/2005 

8/01/2005 

14/02/2005 

15/04/2005 

25/05/2005 

5/08/2005 

2/07/2005 

22/08/2005 

Application date* 

24/01/05 

14/02/05 

10/03/05 

14/03/05 

10/03/05 

10/03/05 

22/04/05 

22/06/05 

13/07/05 

24/08/05 

9/09/05 

19/10/05 

Complete information 
available on 

Major disaster 
threshold (m€) 
Total direct damage 
(m€)* 
Major/regional/ 
neighbouring disaster? 

28/2/05 

- 

26/05/05 

6/06/05 

20/06/05 

13/06/05 

05/08/05 
29/12/05 

30/09/05 

6/10/05 

7/10/05 
29/12/05 

12/1/06 

172.297 

3 118.381 

1 603.252 

45.209 

59.092 

94.261 

918.043 

302.114 

103.274 

103.274 

302.114 

1 336.348 

194.966 

(222.982)** 

2 297.313 

47.868 

192.590 

15.156 

111.660 

489.530 

222.279 

237.446 

1 049.681 

591.944 

major 

regional 

major 

major 

major 

neighbouring 

regional 

major 

major 

major 

major 

regional 

Damage/threshold 

113.16% 

max 7% 

143.29% 

105.88% 

325.92% 

16.08% 

12.16% 

162.03% 

215.23% 

229.92% 

347.45% 

44.30% 

Cost of eligible emer-
gency operations 
(m€)** 

Eligible cost/ total 
damage 

Aid/eligible cost 

Aid rate 
(% of total damage) 

106.680 

not 
identified 

85.859 

16.768 

57.191 

9.296 

54.7% 

5.31% 

2.91% 

 - 

 - 

 - 

3.7% 

95.19% 

3.56% 

35.0% 

7.69% 

2.69% 

29.7% 

16.59% 

4.93% 

61.3% 

4.08% 

2.50% 

 - 

 - 

 - 

 - 

160.867 

144.478 

190.433 

259.176 

196.242 

32.9% 

11.69% 

3.84% 

65.0% 

6.73% 

4.37% 

80.2% 

5.58% 

4.48% 

24.7% 

33.2% 

20.22% 

4.99% 

7.54% 

2.50% 

Date of grant decision 

Date of Implementation 
agreement 

Amount of aid 
granted (m€) 

13/10/2005 
C(2005)4093 

17/10/2005 

5.667578 

rejected 

03/03/2006 
C(2006)652  

10/03/2006 
C(2006)714 

15/03/2006 
C(2006)778  

03/03/2006 
C(2006)653 

rejected 

 - 

0 

 22/03/2006 

 21/04/2006 

 10/04/2006 

 10/03/2006 

81.724975 

1.289765 

9.487180 

0.378910 

 - 

0 

Registration of initial application at Commission 

* 
**  As accepted by Commission 
***  Amount could not be verified 

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Annex 2 

Criteria to mobilise the EU Solidarity Fund 

Extract from Council Regulation 2012/2002: 

“Article 2: 

1.  At  the  request  of  a  Member  State  or  country  involved  in  accession  negotiations  with  the 
European Union, hereinafter referred to as ‘beneficiary State’, assistance from the Fund may 
be  mainly  mobilised  when  a  major  natural  disaster  with  serious  repercussions  on  living 
conditions,  the  natural  environment  or  the  economy  in  one  or  more  regions  or  one  or  more 
countries occurs on the territory of that State. 

2. A ‘major disaster’ within the meaning of this Regulation means any disaster resulting, in 
at least one of the States concerned, in damage estimated either at over EUR 3 billion in 2002 
prices, or more than 0,6 % of its GNI. 

By  way  of  exception,  a  neighbouring  Member  State  or  country  involved  in  accession 
negotiations with the European Union, which has been affected by the same disaster can also 
benefit from assistance from the Fund. 

However, under exceptional circumstances, even when the quantitative criteria laid down in 
the first subparagraph are not met, a region could also benefit from assistance from the Fund, 
where  that  region  has  been  affected  by  an  extraordinary  disaster,  mainly  a  natural  one, 
affecting  the  major  part  of  its  population,  with  serious  and  lasting  repercussions  on  living 
conditions  and  the  economic  stability  of  the  region.  Total  annual  assistance  under  this 
subparagraph  shall  be  limited  to  no  more  than  7,5  %  of  the  annual  amount  available  to  the 
Fund. Particular focus will be on remote or isolated regions, such as the insular and outermost 
regions  as  defined  in  Article  299(2)  of  the  Treaty.  The  Commission  shall  examine  with  the 
utmost rigour any requests which are submitted to it under this subparagraph.” 

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Annex 3 

Determination of the amount of aid 

A  progressive  system  in  two  brackets  is  applied  whereby  a  country  affected  by  a  disaster 
receives  a  lower  rate  of  aid  of  2.5%  for  the  part  of  total  direct  damage  below  the  “major 
disaster” threshold and a higher share of aid of 6% for the part of the damage exceeding the 
threshold. The two amounts are added up. 

The threshold is the level of damage defined by the Regulation to trigger the intervention of 
the  Fund,  i.e.  0.6%  of  GNI  or  EUR 3  billion  in  2002  prices.  This  element  ensures  that  the 
relative capacity of a State to deal itself with a disaster is taken into account. It also ensures 
that for the same amount of damage relatively poorer countries receive more aid in absolute 
terms than richer ones. For extraordinary regional disasters the same method has been applied, 
meaning consequently that countries affected by those disasters, which by definition remain 
below the threshold, receive 2.5 % of total direct damage in aid. 

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Annex 4 
Thresholds for major disasters applicable in 2005 
(based on 2003 figures for Gross National Income) 

Country 

GNI 2003 

0.6% of GNI 

AT  ÖSTERREICH 

BE  BELGIQUE-BELGIË 

BG  BALGARIJA 

CY  KYPROS 

CZ  ČESKA REPUBLIKA 

DE  DEUTSCHLAND 

DK  DANMARK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

EESTI 

ELLADA 

ESPAÑA 

SUOMI/FINLAND 

FR 

FRANCE 

HR  HRVATSKA 

HU  MAGYARORSZÁG 

IE 

IT 

IRELAND 

ITALIA 

LT 

LIETUVA 

LU  LUXEMBOURG (G-D) 

LV  LATVIJA 

MT  MALTA 

NL  NEDERLAND 

PL 

PT 

POLSKA 

PORTUGAL 

RO  ROMÂNIA 

SE 

SI 

SK 

TR 

SVERIGE 

SLOVENIJA 

SLOVENSKÁ REPUBLIKA 

TÜRKIYE*** 

UK  UNITED KINGDOM 

(Million €) 

Major disaster 
threshold 2005 

1 336.348 

1 647.960 

103.274 

69.178 

458.495 

3 118.381* 

1 119.289 

45.209 

918.043 

3 118.381* 

851.838 

3 118.381* 

153.158 

416.876 

677.659 

222 725 

274 660 

17 212 

11 530 

76 416 

2 114 180 

186 548 

7 535 

153 007 

734 748 

141 973 

1 560 079 

25 526** 

69 479 

112 943 

1 336.348 

1 647.960 

103.274 

69.178 

458.495 

12 685.080 

1 119.289 

45.209 

918.043 

4 408.488 

851.838 

9 360.474 

153.158 

416.876 

677.659 

1 286 896 

7 721.373 

3 118.381* 

15 710 

21 206 

9 849 

4 324 

447 701 

182 019 

128 143 

50 352** 

267 209 

24 400 

28 716 

210 450 

1 622 278 

94.261 

127.235 

59.092 

25.943 

2 686.206 

1 092.112 

768.860 

302.114 

94.261 

127.235 

59.092 

25.943 

2 686.206 

1 092.112 

768.860 

302.114 

1 603.252 

1 603.252 

146.402 

172.297 

1 262.698 

9 733.667 

146.402 

172.297 

1 262.698 

3 118.381* 

* ~ EUR 3 billion in 2002 prices 
** GDP (GNI not available) 
*** eligible for aid only after formal opening of accession negotiations 

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Proposal for a new Solidarity Fund Regulation - Synopsis of main features 

Annex 5 

Entry into force 
Geographical scope 

Application deadline 
Applicant 
Thematic scope 

Eligibility criteria 

Threshold 
(to be met per applicant 
state) 

Eligible operations 

Current Solidarity Fund 
Regulation 

November 2002 
Member States and candidate 
countries after formal opening of 
accession negotiations 
10 weeks after first damage 
national government only 
“mainly” major natural disasters 
(health treats and terrorism excluded) 

1. 

total direct damage above 
threshold 

2.  neighbouring country 
3.  exceptional mobilisation for 

extraordinary regional disasters 

In relation to above: 
1. 

total direct damage above 
EUR 3 bn or 0.6% of GNI, 
whichever is the lower 

2.  no threshold if major disaster in 
neighbouring country recognised 
3.  major part of population affected, 
lasting repercussions on living 
conditions and economic stability 
of affected region 

Emergency operations 
- to restore to working order basic 
infrastructures 
- to secure protective infrastructure 
- pay for emergency services and 
provisional housing, 
- for protection of cultural heritage 
- cleaning up 
No compensation of private damage 

Proposed new Regulation 

January 2007 
no change 

no change 
no change 
major disasters resulting from 
- natural disasters 
- industrial and technological 
disasters 
- public health emergencies 
- acts of terrorism 
1. 

total direct damage above 
threshold 

2.  neighbouring country 
3.  political criterion 
4.  abolition of exceptional 
regional disaster criteria 

In relation to above: 
1. 

total direct damage above 
EUR 1 bn or 0.5% of GNI, 
whichever is the lower 

2.  no threshold if major disaster 
in eligible neighbouring 
country recognised 
3.  political decision of the 

Commission: limited to cases 
where damage is inappropriate 
criterion (health threats, 
terrorism) 
As now, plus 
- medical, psychological and social 
assistance to the direct victims of 
acts of terrorism and their families 
- protection of the population 
against imminent health threats, 
including the replacement of 
vaccine, drugs, medical products 
and medical equipment used up 
during an emergency 

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Implementation period 
Budgetary procedure 

Advance payments 

Current Solidarity Fund 
Regulation 

1 year following payment of grant 
Full budgetary procedure involving 
EP and Council following a 
Commission proposal for an 
amending budget in each case 
not possible 

Payment of grant 

Implementation 

Technical assistance 

100% up front upon conclusion of the 
implementation agreement with 
beneficiary state, no co-financing 
obligation 
Under full responsibility of 
beneficiary state 
Minimum requirements on 
monitoring and reporting 
Final report 6 months after end of 
grant  
not available 

Proposed new Regulation 

18 months from first damage 
no change 

upon request of applicant state: 5% 
of the estimated cost of eligible 
operations, maximum EUR 3 
million 
to be made available rapidly 
through internal budget transfer 
no change 

no change 

up to EUR 2 million/year for 
external expertise 

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