Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the council European Union Solidarity Fund Annual Report 2017 -2018

Abstract

Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11November2002 establishing the EU Solidarity Fund (‘the Regulation’) provides in its Article 12 that a report on the activity of the Fund in the previous year shall be presented to the European Parliament and to the Council. Exceptionally, given that the mobilisation procedure of the Solidarity Fund for all disasters of 2017 was only completed in 2018, the present report covers the activities of the Fund during both years 2017 and 2018. The report summarises the applications received and the cases closed during the reporting period. The Commission assessed all applications according to the criteria laid down in the Regulation as amended in 20141.In 2017, the Commission received ten new applications for financial contribution from the Solidarity Fund, namely from France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Spain. In addition and most importantly, Italy revised and updated its application initially submitted in 2016 for the series of major earthquakes that started in August 2016 and continued into early 2017.