European Union Solidarity Fund annual report 2013.

Abstract

Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (hereinafter "the Regulation"), provides that a report on the activity of the Fund in the previous year shall be presented to the European Parliament and to the Council. The present report presents the activities of the EU Solidarity Fund (hereinafter “EUSF”) during the year 2013: the treatment of pending and new applications and the assessment of implementation reports with a view to preparing these for closure. It also addresses the proposal to amend the Regulation presented in the course of the year1. During 2013, the Commission received eight new applications for EUSF assistance which represents an average year in terms of the number of applications. Four applications were submitted in January; four more applications arrived in July and August. Three of these applications concerned the flooding events in Slovenia, Austria and Croatia in October/November 2012. The applications received from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary concerned the severe floods of May/June 2013. The application received from Portugal concerned the mud and landslides on the Island of Madeira in January 2013. With the exception of the ones from Portugal and Hungary the Commission accepted all these applications and proposed the mobilisation of the EUSF. The Commission also completed its assessment of an application from Romania pending from 2012 relating to drought and fires for which it also proposed the mobilisation of the Fund. In financial terms, in the course of 2013, the Commission approved aid from the EUSF amounting to a total of EUR 415,127 million; details are described in chapter 4 “Financing”. In total EUR 14,321 million of aid could be paid out, namely for the flooding events in Slovenia and Austria of 2012. Annexes 1 to 3 present the applicable thresholds for mobilising the fund for 2013, a summary of the applications received and a complete list of applications dealt with since 2002.