THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund(1), and in particular Article 4(3) thereof,
Having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management(2), and in particular point 11 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
The European Union Solidarity Fund (‘the Fund’) aims to enable the Union to respond in a rapid, efficient and flexible manner to emergency situations in order to show solidarity with the population of regions struck by natural disasters.
The Fund is not to exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 500 000 000 (2011 prices), as laid down in Article 10 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013(3).
On 8 November 2019, Portugal submitted an application to mobilise the Fund, following extreme weather events in Azores.
On 28 November 2019, Spain submitted an application to mobilise the Fund, following extreme rainfall resulting in flooding in the regions of Valencia, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.
On 10 January 2020, Italy submitted an application to mobilise the Fund, following extreme weather events in 17 regions in the autumn of 2019.
On 29 January 2020, Austria submitted application to mobilise the Fund, following extreme weather events in November 2019.
The applications by Portugal, Spain, Italy and Austria meet the conditions for providing a financial contribution from the Fund, as laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002.
The Fund should therefore be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution to Portugal, Spain, Italy and Austria.
In order to minimise the time taken to mobilise the Fund, this Decision should apply from the date of its adoption,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
For the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2020, the European Union Solidarity Fund shall be mobilised as follows in commitment and payment appropriations:
the amount of EUR 8 212 697 shall be provided to Portugal;
the amount of EUR 56 743 358 shall be provided to Spain;
the amount of EUR 211 707 982 shall be provided to Italy;
the amount of EUR 2 329 777 shall be provided to Austria.
This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 18 June 2020.
Done at Brussels, 18 June 2020.
For the European Parliament
The President
D. M. Sassoli
For the Council
The President
N. Brnjac