PURPOSE: presentation of the Draft Amending Budget
(DAB) No 4 for the year 2015.
CONTENT: Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 4 for the year
2015 covers the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund
(EUSF) for an amount of EUR 66 505 850 in commitment and
payment appropriations. The mobilisation relates to two floods in
Romania, one in Bulgaria and one in Italy.
Mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund
In 2014, the Commission received four more
applications for EUSF financial assistance relating to disasters in
Romania (floodings in spring and in summer), Bulgaria (summer
flooding) and Italy (autumn flooding).
The Commission services have carried out a thorough
examination of all four applications. The most important elements
of the assessments are summarised here below:
1) Romania – Spring Floods: during April and May 2014, major parts of Romania
were affected by wide-spread flooding causing destruction of public
and private infrastructure, private homes and in agriculture. The
application was submitted as a 'neighbouring country' disaster,
under article 2(4) of the Regulation. Under this provision a
country affected by the same disaster as a neighbouring country for
which a major disaster has been recognised may exceptionally
benefit from EUSF aid even if it does not qualify as a major or as
a regional disaster. Romania claimed that it had been affected by
the same disaster as the one that occurred in Serbia and which
previously accepted by the Commission as a major disaster. The
Commission therefore requested Romania to review and update its
application. The Commission received a revised application from
Romania.
As regards the impact and consequences of the
disaster, this affected 30 of the 42 Romanian counties and
triggered the evacuation of inhabitants, caused major losses and
badly affected different sectors of the economy. The cost of
essential emergency operations eligible under Article 3(2) of the
Regulation has been estimated by the Romanian authorities at EUR
145.527 million covering emergency operations and recovery
operations in the field of transport. The second largest share of
cost concerns the securing of preventive infrastructure amounting
to EUR 44 million.
2) Romania – Summer Floods: from late July to mid-August 2014, south-western
parts of Romania were affected by heavy precipitation and
subsequent floods and landslides that caused damage to public and
private infrastructure, to businesses and the agricultural sector,
as well as to cultural heritage and private homes. The Romanian
authorities estimate the total direct damage caused by the disaster
at EUR 171.911 million. As the total direct damage remained below
the major disaster threshold for activating the EUSF the
application was examined on the basis of the criteria for "regional
disasters” as laid down in Article 2(3) of the Regulation.
which defines a 'regional disaster' as any natural disaster
resulting in a region at NUTS level 2 of an eligible State in
direct damage in excess of 1,5% of that region's GDP. The Romanian
application relates to a single NUTS level 2 region, namely
"Sud-Vest Oltenia". The reported direct damage exceeds the 1.5%
threshold in article 2(3) of the Regulation. The application from
Romania is therefore eligible for a contribution from the
Solidarity Fund. The cost of essential emergency operations
has been estimated by the Romanian authorities at EUR 93.955
million and has been broken down to cover the recovery of transport
infrastructure and the securing of preventive
infrastructure.
3) Bulgaria – Summer floods: Bulgaria suffered from intense and heavy rainfall at
the end of July and early August 2014 which caused considerable
damage to public and private infrastructure, businesses, private
homes and assets, and harmed the agricultural sector. The Bulgarian
authorities estimate the total direct damage caused by the disaster
at EUR 79.344 million. As the total direct damage remains below the
major disaster threshold for activating the EUSF the application
was examined on the basis of the criteria for "regional
disasters” as laid down in Article 2(3) of the Regulation. The
Bulgarian application relates to a single NUTS level 2 region,
namely "Severozapaden" in the north-west of Bulgaria, one of the
poorest regions in the EU. The cost of essential emergency
operations has been estimated by the Bulgarian authorities at EUR
69.108 million and mainly covers the recovery of transport
infrastructure and repairs in the water/waste water
sector.
4) Italy – Autumn floods: during the period from 9 October to 18 November
2014, wider parts of north-western Italy suffered from recurrent
periods of severe weather with heavy rain and subsequent flooding
and landslides which caused serious damage to public and private
infrastructure, businesses, private homes and assets, and harmed
the agricultural sector. The events occurred over a period of
nearly six weeks in different locations of five Italian regions,
namely Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Tuscany. The
Italian authorities estimated the total direct damage caused by the
disaster at EUR 2 241,052 million. As total direct damage remains
below the major disaster threshold for activating the Solidarity
Fund the application was examined on the basis of the criteria for
"regional disasters”. Overall, the disaster caused 11
casualties and some 3000 people had to be evacuated. Widespread
damage was done to the environment, to public infrastructure,
agriculture, as well as to the economic and productive sectors as
the floods affected many urban areas (Genova being the most
prominent example). The cost of essential emergency operations has
been estimated by the Italian authorities at EUR 434.314 million of
which the largest share of the cost of emergency operations
concerns recovery operations in the field of infrastructure and
plant in the field of energy, water/waste water, telecoms,
transport, health and education as well as the protection of
cultural heritage.
Financing: as solidarity
was the central justification for the creation of the Fund, the
Commission takes the view that aid from the Fund should be
progressive. That means that, according to previous practice, the
portion of the damage exceeding the “major disaster”
threshold for mobilising the Fund (i.e. 0.6% of GNI or EUR 3
billion in 2011 prices, whichever is the lower amount) should give
rise to higher aid intensity than damage up to the threshold. The
rate applied in the past for defining the allocations for major
disasters is 2.5% of total direct damage under the threshold and 6%
for the part of the damage above. For regional disasters and
disasters accepted under the “neighbouring country”
provision the rate is 2.5%. This rate was applied in all the four
cases below as none of them exceeded their respective major
disaster thresholds.
The Commission therefore proposes to apply the same
percentages in this case, which amounts to an overall financial
envelope of EUR 66 505 850, an amount complying with the
ceiling provisions of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)
regulation (i.e. EUR 500 million in 2011 prices).
In addition, an amount of EUR 403 879 032 remained
unspent from the 2014 allocation and may be used during
2015.
The Commission proposes to mobilise the European Union
Solidarity Fund for each of the four cases concerning Romania,
Bulgaria and Italy presented above and to amend the budget 2015 by
increasing budget article 13 06 01 (EU Solidarity Fund for
Member States) by EUR 66 505 850 both in commitment and in
payment appropriations.
As the European Union Solidarity Fund is a special
instrument as defined in the MFF regulation, the corresponding
appropriations should be budgeted outside the corresponding MFF
ceiling.