REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION European Union Solidarity Fund Annual report 2009
Date: 2011-03-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Cyprus, EU aid, France, Italy, Romania, drought, financial aid, financing, flood, natural disaster

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 23.3.2011 
COM(2011) 136 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

European Union Solidarity Fund 
Annual report 2009 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

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

Pending applications from 2008 and new applications received in 2009 .................... 3 

Financing...................................................................................................................... 6 

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

Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 6 

Annex 1: European Union Solidarity Fund Pending and New Applications in 2009................ 8 

Annex 2: Overview of EU Solidarity Fund Applications since 2002 ........................................ 9 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  European  Union  Solidarity  Fund  (EUSF)  was  set  up  on  15  November  2002. 
Article  12  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2012/2002  of  11  November  2002 
establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (hereinafter - the "Solidarity Fund 
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. The present report presents 
the  activities of the Fund in 2009 covering, as in previous reports, the treatment of 
pending and new applications and the assessment of implementation reports with a 
view to preparing these for closure. 

In  terms  of  the  number  of  applications 2009  was  one  of  the  "quieter"  years  for  the 
EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF). In all, only six applications for EUSF aid were made in 
the course of the year while in some previous years up to 19 applications had been 
presented. Four of the 2009 applications – relating to forest fires in the Attica region 
of  Greece,  to  storms  in  Cyprus,  to  floods  on  the  Greek  island  of  Evia,  and  to 
mudslides in Sicily – were presented during the months of November and December 
so that their assessment could only be completed during 2010. These disasters were 
relatively  small  and  assessed  as  not  to  be  meeting  the  criteria  for  activating  the 
Fund.1 

However, in terms of damage caused and aid paid out 2009 was quite extraordinary. 
The L'Aquila earthquake in the Italian Abruzzo region was in fact the biggest disaster 
since  the  creation  of  the  Fund  and  subsequently  lead  to  the  highest  grant  ever, 
amounting to almost half a billion Euros. Storm Klaus in south-western France was 
another major disaster with damage considerably above the average. 

2. 

PENDING APPLICATIONS FROM 2008 AND NEW APPLICATIONS RECEIVED IN 2009 

Cyprus (drought) 

In 2008, Cyprus had been suffering from a shortfall of rain that led to serious effects 
on  living  conditions,  the  economy  and  the  natural  environment.  The  Cypriot 
authorities submitted an application for EUSF assistance on 1 July 2008, which was 
completed  by  additional  information  on  16 October 2008.  This  was  the  first 
application  for  Solidarity  Fund  aid  relating  to  drought.  The  Solidarity  Fund 
Regulation requires an application to be made no later than ten weeks after the first 
damage caused by the disaster which in the event of a slowly unfolding disaster such 
as  drought  meets  with  an  objective  difficulty.  However,  in  the  case  of  Cyprus, 
against the background of the three-year period of unusually low rains, the absence 
of  the  rainfall  reached  its  peak  at  the  end  of  the  rainy  season,  in  April 2008.  The 
Commission, therefore, considered that 22 April 2008, could be accepted as starting 
date  of  the  major  disaster.  As  a  consequence,  the  application  presented  to  the 
Commission on 1 July 2008 respected the time-limits laid down in Article 4(1). 

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Details on the assessment of these applications will be presented in the annual report for 2010. 

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total  direct  damage, 

The  Cypriot  authorities  estimated 
incurred  after 
the 
22 April 2008,  at  EUR 176.15 million.  As  this  amount  exceeded  the  threshold  of 
EUR 84.673 million (i.e. 0,6 % of GNI) applicable for Cyprus, the drought qualified 
as a “major natural disaster which affected the complete territory of the country. On 
24  October  2008,  the  Commission  proposed  to  mobilise  financial  assistance  of 
EUR 7.605 million.  Following  the  budget  procedure  in  the  Council  and  the 
Parliament  and  the  conclusion  of  an  agreement for the implementation of the grant 
between  the  Commission  and  the  Cypriot  authorities,  the  grant  was  paid  to  Cyprus 
on 9 October 2009. 

Romania (floods) 

In July 2008 a fairly extensive part of Romania was affected by heavy rain, leading 
to  severe  flooding  and  landslides.  The  Romanian  authorities  applied  for  EUSF 
assistance  on  1  October  2008.  Total  direct  damage  was  estimated  at 
EUR 471.42 million. As this amount remained below the "major disaster" threshold 
for  Romania  (EUR 566.84 million,  i.e.  0,6 %  of  Romania’s  GNI),  representing 
however  approximately  83 %  of  the  threshold,  the  application  was  assessed  on  the 
basis of the criteria for so-called “extraordinary regional disasters”. 

The affected region was a coherent area, comprising 5 counties in the North-Eastern 
part  of  Romania,  with  a  population  of  3.046 million  inhabitants.  The  major  part  of 
the  population  in  the  area  had  been  affected,  with  a  partial  or  total  destruction  of 
private  property  and  agricultural  crops.  Evidence  was  presented  to  demonstrate 
serious and lasting repercussions on living conditions and the economic stability of 
the  region.  Serious  damage  was  reported  to  basic  infrastructures,  agriculture, 
forestry, livestock, and private homes. The disaster caused lasting repercussions on 
living  conditions  in  the  region,  with  around  14 644  households  being  destroyed, 
lasting unavailability of basic infrastructures (water/energy), and seriously damaged 
transport infrastructure leading to a complete isolation of around 100 municipalities. 
On  22 January 2009,  the  Commission  concluded  that  the  application  meets  the 
criteria for extraordinary regional disasters, and proposed to grant aid amounting to 
EUR 11 785 377. After completion of the corresponding amending budget procedure 
and  the  signing  of  the  Implementation  Agreement,  this  grant  was  paid  to  the 
Romanian authorities on 29 October 2009. 

France (storm Klaus) 

On 24 January 2009 a major storm ("Klaus") hit south-western France causing severe 
damages. The French authorities submitted an application to the Solidarity Fund on 
2 April 2009, within the 10 week deadline after the first damages were recorded. 

According to the French authorities, the storm caused severe damage in particular to 
the forestry sector, which accounted for more that  60 % of total  estimated damage, 
and  to  businesses  and  private  households  (more  than  25 %  of  total  estimated 
damage).  The  storm  also  caused  significant  damage  to  infrastructures  (transport, 
electricity,  water  and  telecommunications)  as  well  as  to  the  agricultural  sector,  and 
required  extensive  clean-up  operations.  Twelve  people  lost  their  lives  as  a  direct 
consequence of the storm and more than 400 were injured. 

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The Commission estimated that total direct damage caused by the storm amounted to 
EUR 3.805 billion.  As  this  figure  exceeds  the  threshold  of  EUR 3.398 billion  (i.e. 
EUR 3 billion  in  2002  prices)  applicable  to  France  in  2009  for  mobilising  the 
Solidarity  Fund  the  disaster  qualified  as  a  "major  natural  disaster"  and  thus  fell 
within  the  main  field  of  application  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2012/2002.  However, 
further  damages  claimed  in  France's  application,  such  as  losses  in  income  and 
production  due  to  the  interruption  of  economic  activities,  and  hypothetical  damage 
such  as  the  estimated  value  attached  to  sequestered  carbon  losses  (together 
amounting  to  EUR 1.220 billion),  were  not  taken  into  account  as  a  basis  for 
calculating the assistance, as they were not considered direct damages. 

On  29  May  2009  the  Commission  proposed  to  mobilise  financial  assistance  of 
EUR 109 377 165. The corresponding amending budget procedure was completed on 
15 September 2009. Following the conclusion of the Implementation Agreement with 
France the Commission paid out the grant on 25 November 2009. 

Italy (Abruzzo Earthquake) 

In April 2009 a major earthquake affected the Italian region of Abruzzo costing the 
lives  of  300  people  and  causing  extremely  high  damages.  Within  the  10  week 
deadline set for applications to the EU Solidarity Fund, the Italian authorities applied 
for financial assistance relating to the earthquake. 

The earthquake caused severe destruction of basic infrastructure, private households, 
public buildings, businesses and the region's important cultural heritage, and brought 
serious  harm  to  the  population.  The  areas  hit  by  the  event  included  the  whole 
Province  of  L’Aquila,  most  of  the  Abruzzo  Region  and  some  bordering  areas.  The 
regional  capital  L’Aquila,  was  particularly  hard  hit,  worst  of  all  in  its  historical 
centre. Out of a total population of approximately 300 000 affected by the disaster, 
300  casualties  were  reported  and  1 500  injured.  Thousands  lost  their  houses  and/or 
private  businesses,  and  around  30 000  people  were  placed  in  tent  camps  for  long 
periods.  Another  32 000  were  placed  in  hotels  and  private  houses  on  the  Adriatic 
coast  and  some  20 000  were  reported  to  have  moved  to  private  accommodation 
outside  the  region.  A  significant  proportion  of  the  buildings  surveyed  after  the 
earthquake were found to be entirely unsafe. The disaster also seriously affected the 
socio-economic  situation  of  the  whole  region  with  economic  activity  being 
drastically  reduced  if  not  stopped.  The  same  applies  to  the  activities  of  the  local 
University with 27 000 students which also constituted an important economic factor 
for the region.  

The Italian authorities estimated the total direct damage at over EUR 10.212 billion. 
This  amount  represented  0,67 %  of  Italy's  GNI  and  over  three  times  the  normal 
threshold  applicable  to  Italy  for  mobilising  the  Solidarity  Fund  of  EUR  3.4  billion 
(i.e. EUR 3 billion in 2002 prices. The analysis of the Commission services revealed 
that the methods used by Italy for estimating the different categories of damage were 
very  detailed  and  sound  and  that  the  results  were  plausible.  The  estimate  of  total 
direct damage in fact appeared to be somewhat conservative. 

The  earthquake  therefore  qualified  as  a  major  natural  disaster  and  fell  within  the 
main field of application of the EU Solidarity Fund. The application was successfully 

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fast-tracked in order to provide aid to the Italian authorities as quickly as possible. In 
a decision dated 8 June 2009, the Commission proposed to the budgetary authority to 
mobilise financial assistance of EUR 493 771 159. The amending budget procedure 
was completed on 20 October 2009 and was quickly followed by the conclusion of 
the  Implementation  Agreement  on  11 November 2009.  Payment  of  the  grant  was 
made on 30 November 2009. 

3. 

FINANCING 

In 2009, a grant from the EUSF was paid out for one case for which the application 
was  received  in  the  autumn  of  2008  (drought  in  Cyprus).  The  corresponding 
Preliminary  Draft  Amending  Budget  No 10/20082  was  approved  by  the  Budgetary 
Authority on 18 December 2008. 

For  applications  received  in  2009,  the  Fund  was  mobilised  for  three  cases. 
Preliminary  Draft  Amending  Budget  No 1/20093  covers  the  effects  of  floods 
affecting Romania and was approved by the Budgetary Authority on 11 March 2009. 
Preliminary Draft Amending Budget No 7/20094 covers the effects of storm Klaus in 
France  and  was  approved  by  the  Budgetary  Authority  on  15 September 2009. 
Preliminary  Draft  Amending  Budget  No 9/20095  covers  the  effects  of  the  L'Aquila 
earthquake 
the  Budgetary  Authority  on 
20 October 2009. The payments could be made after adoption of the grant decisions 
and after the implementation agreements were signed. 

Italy  and  was  approved  by 

in 

Beneficiary  Disaster 

Category 

Cyprus 

Drought 

Major Natural Disaster 

Romania 

Floods 

Extraordinary Regional Disaster 

France 

Italy 

Total 

Storm Klaus  Major Natural Disaster 

Abruzzo 
earthquake 

Major Natural Disaster 

Amount of aid 
(EUR) 

7 605 445

11 785 377

109 377 165

493 771 159

622 539 145

4. 

CLOSURES 

Article 8(2) of Solidarity Fund Regulation 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 
(hereinafter: an “implementation report”) 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. 

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COM(2008)731; Amending budget 11/2008 adopted on 18 December 2008, OJ L 27 of 30/1/2009. 
COM(2009)22; Amending budget 1/2009 adopted on 11 March 2009, OJ L 99 of 17/4/2009. 
SEC(2009)827; Amending budget 7/2009 adopted on 15 September 2009, OJ L 293 of 10/11/2009. 
COM(2009)448; Amending budget 9/2009 adopted on 20 October 2009, OJ L 326 of 11/12/2009. 

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In  the  course  of  2009,  two  EU  Solidarity  Fund  files  were  closed.  As  regards  the 
closure of assistance of the case relating to the storm in Estonia in 2005, for which 
financial aid of EUR 1 289 765 was granted, the implementation report was received 
on 27 September 2007. After thorough assessment by the Commission services, the 
Commission  had  to  request  further  information  from  the  Estonian  authorities.  The 
reply  from  the  Estonian  authorities  was  received  on  19 January 2009  declaring 
ineligible  expenditure  amounting  to  EUR 4 430.  The  Commission  initiated  a 
recovery procedure and the amount of EUR 4 430 was recovered from the Estonian 
authorities on 1 June 2009. The file was subsequently wound up. 

In  the  case  relating  to  the  storm  in  Lithuania  in  2005,  financial  aid  amounting  to 
EUR 378 910 was granted to Lithuania and the implementation report in Lithuanian 
language was received on 10 October 2007. After translation and verification by the 
Commission  services,  further  information  from  the  Lithuanian  authorities  was 
requested.  The  Lithuanian  authorities'  statement  proved  that  all  necessary  closure 
requirements were met. The Commission wound up the file on 11 June 2009. 

In  2009,  the  Commission  received  final  implementation  reports  for  grants  made 
in 2007  from  Greece  (relating  to  the  Evros  flooding  in 2006),  Hungary  (relating  to 
the  flooding  in 2006),  Germany  (relating  to  storm  Kyrill  in 2007)  and  France 
(relating to storm Gamède in 2007). At the end of the period covered by this annual 
report the assessment of these implementation reports was ongoing. 

5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

In  2009  the  Solidarity  Fund  once  more  proved  its  effectiveness  in  responding  to 
major  disasters,  i.e.  in  making  substantial  financial  assistance  available  within  a 
reasonable time frame. One condition, however, is that applications are well prepared 
by the applicant State so that the Commission does not have to ask for clarification or 
additional information. In that sense the Commission services' established practice to 
offer  to  informally  review  with  the  competent  national  authorities  their  draft 
application  before  it  is  officially  submitted  has  proven  very  efficient.  Countries 
wishing  to  apply  for  Solidarity  Fund  aid  are  encouraged  to  make  use  of  this 
opportunity. 

In  fact,  in  the  case  of  the  biggest  disaster  for  which  Solidarity  Fund  aid  was  ever 
requested the aid could be paid out relatively quickly in just over 5 months from the 
submission  date  of  the  application  -  in  spite  of  the  European  Parliament's 
reconstitution following the June elections. 

2009  also  demonstrated  the  difficulties  in  activating  the  EUSF  in  cases  of  slowly 
unfolding disasters. The requirement to submit applications within 10 weeks of the 
first damage caused by the disaster meets with objective difficulties in the event of 
disasters  such  as  drought  for  which  setting  a  precise  starting  date  is  virtually 
impossible. While in the case of the application from Cyprus an operational solution 
could be found it would be preferable to include in the Solidarity Fund Regulation a 
specific  provision  for  this  type  of  disaster  making  it  superfluous  to  "interpret"  the 
Regulation.  The  Commission  will  address  this  issue  in  its  Communication  on  the 
future  of  the  EU  Solidarity  Fund  planned  to  be  presented  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second semester of 2011. 

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ANNEX 1: EUROPEAN UNION SOLIDARITY FUND PENDING AND NEW APPLICATIONS IN 2009 

Applicant Country 

Cyprus 

Romania 

France 

Italy 

Name and nature of 
disaster 

Drought 

Flooding 

Storm Klaus 

Abruzzo 
Earthquake 

First damage date 

22/04/2008 

24/07/2008 

24/01/2009 

06/04/2009 

Application date* 

01/07/2008 

01/10/2008 

02/04/2009 

08/06/2009 

Complete information 
available on 
Major disaster threshold 
(m€) 

01/07/2008 

01/10/2008 

02/04/2009 

08/06/2009 

84.673 

566.845 

3 398.6 

3 398.6 

Total direct damage (m€) 

176.15 

471.41 

3 805.47 

10 212.04 

Category 

major 

regional 

major 

major 

Damage/threshold 

208.03 % 

83.16 % 

111.97 % 

300.48 % 

Cost of eligible emergency 
operations (m€) 

59.45 

390.81 

462.91 

2 004.14 

Eligible cost/ total damage 

33.74 % 

82.9 % 

12.16 % 

19.63 % 

Aid/eligible cost 

12.79 % 

3.01 % 

23.63 % 

24.64 % 

Aid rate 
(% of total damage) 

4.31 % 

2.49 % 

2.87 % 

4.84 % 

Date of grant decision 

30/03/2009 

20/07/2009 

27/10/2009 

11/11/2009 

Date of Implementation 
agreement 

10/06/2009 

03/09/2009 

13/11/2009 

11/11/2009 

Aid granted (EUR) 

7 605 445 

11 785 377 

109 377 165 

493 771 159 

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ANNEX 2: 

OVERVIEW OF EU SOLIDARITY FUND APPLICATIONS SINCE 2002 

Aid granted 
(million €) 

134 

129 

21 

444 

728 

8.626 

30.826 

Yea
r 

2 
0 
0 
2 

Country 

Nature of the disaster 

1 

2 

3 

4 

AT 

Flooding 

CZ 

Flooding 

FR 

Flooding (Le Gard) 

DE 

Flooding 

Total aid for 2002 applications 

Damage 
(million €) 

2 900 

2 300 

835 

9 100 

Category 

major 

major 

regional 

major 

ES  Oil spill (Prestige) 

436 

regional 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

2 
0 
0 
3 

1 

2 

3-
9 

2 
0 
0 
4 

IT 

IT 

Earthquake 
(Molise/Apulia) 

Volcanic eruption 
(Etna) 

1 558 

regional 

894 

regional 

16.798 

IT 

Flooding (North Italy) 

(1 900) 

(major) 

GR  Adverse winter weather 

(not clear) 

(major ?) 

PT 

Forest fires 

1 228 

major 

Rejected 

Rejected 

48.539 

FR 

Forest fires (Southern 
France) 

531 

(regional) 

Rejected 

8 

ES 

Forest fires (Portuguese 
border) 

9  MT  Flooding 

10 

IT 

Flooding (Friuli 
Venezia-Giulia) 

Total aid for 2003 applications 

53 

30 

neighbouring 
country 

major 

(525) 

(regional) 

FR 

Flooding (Rhone delta) 

ES 

Flooding (Malaga) 

785 

(73) 

regional 

(regional) 

1.331 

0.961 

Rejected 

107.081 

19.625 

Rejected 

ES 

Forest fires (7 
applications) 

(480) 

(regional) 

all 7 rejected 

10 

SK 

Flooding 

11 

SI 

Earthquake 

Total aid for 2004 applications 

2 
0 
0 
5 

1 

2 

3 

4 

SK 

Storm (Tatras) 

IT 

Flooding (Sardinia) 

EE 

Storm 

LV 

Storm 

(regional) 

(regional) 

major  

Rejected 

withdrawn 

19.625 

5.668 

(regional) 

Rejected 

major 

major 

1.29 

9.487 

(29) 

(13) 

203 

(223, over-
estimated)  

48 

193 

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SE 

Storm "Gudrun" 

2 297 

major 

LT 

Storm 

15 

neighbouring 
country 

81.725 

0.379 

GR  Evros flooding  

(112) 

(regional) 

Rejected 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

RO 

Spring flooding 

BG 

Spring flooding  

10  BG 

Summer flooding 

11  RO 

Summer flooding 

12  AT 

Flooding 
(Tyrol/Vorarlberg) 

Total aid for 2005 applications 

2 
0 
0 
6 

1 

2 

3 

4 

UK 

Buncefield oil depot 
explosion 

GR  Evros flooding 

HU  Flooding 

ES  Galicia forest fires 

Total aid for 2006 applications 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8-
16 

17 

DE 

Storm "Kyrill" 

FR 

La Réunion,  
Cyclone "Gamede" 

ES 

El Hierro flooding 

ES 

La Mancha flooding 

UK  Flooding 

CY 

Forest fires 

ES 

IT 

Forest  Fires  Canary 
islands 

9 applications for forest 
fires in 9 regions 

FR 

Storm Dean/Martinique 

2 
0 
0 
7 

18  GR 

Forest fires 

19 

SI 

Flooding 

Total aid for 2007 applications 

489 

222 

237 

1 050 

592 

major 

major 

major 

major 

regional 

18.798 

9.722 

10.632 

52.4 

14.799 

204.905 

(700) 

(regional) 

withdrawn 

372 

519 

(91) 

4750 

211 

(18) 

(66) 

4 612 

(38) 

(144) 

- 

509 

2 118 

233 

regional 

major 

(regional) 

major 

regional 

(regional) 

(regional) 

major 

(regional) 

(regional) 

(regional) 

regional 

major 

major 

9.306 

15.064 

Rejected 

24.370 

166.9 

5.29 

Rejected 

Rejected 

162.387 

Rejected 

Rejected 

not admissible, 
deadline missed 

12.78 

89.769 

8.254 

445.380 

7.605 

11.785 

19.390 

109.377 

493.771 

2 
0 
0 
8 

1 

2 

CY  Drought 

165.4 

major 

RO 

Floods 

471.4 

regional 

Total aid for 2008 applications 

2 
0 

1 

2 

FR 

Storm Klaus 

IT  Abruzzo earthquake 

3 805.5 

10 212.0 

major 

major 

EN 

10 

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0 
9 

3 

4 

5 

6 

GR 

Forest fires 09 

CY 

Storms 09 

GR  Evia floods 

IT  Messina Mudslide 

Total aid for 2009 applications 

(152.8) 

(2.6) 

(83.2) 

(598.9) 

(regional) 

(regional) 

(regional) 

(regional) 

Rejected 

Rejected 

Rejected 

Rejected 

603.148 

Grand total of aid approved since 2002 

€ 2 151.899 million

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