EU solidarity in action: €119 million to France, Greece and Croatia for the recent natural disasters

The Commission will support the recovery of France, Greece and Croatia through €119 million from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to provide relief to the local population hit by natural disasters in 2020.

Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira said: “The EU Solidarity Fund supports Member States coping with the consequences of the natural and health emergencies. France, Greece and Croatia will now benefit from the EU support. This is a genuine example of European solidarity for the direct benefit of citizens.”

In particular, €53.3 million will help the French Provence-Alpes-Côtes d'Azur region recover from the October 2020 severe damages caused by the storm Alex.

A transfer of €24.6 million to Greece will support the country with the recovery efforts following the Mediterranean Cyclone Ianos of September 2020, the August 2020 floods in Sterea Ellada region, and the October 2020 earthquake in the islands of Samos, Ikaria and Chios. The Commission has disbursed earlier in 2021 advance payments in relation to these four regional disasters.

At the same time, the Commission will also make an advance payment of more than €41 million to Croatia, following the devastating series of earthquakes that hit the Sisak-Moslavina County and parts of the Karlovac and Zagreb Counties in Croatia in December 2020 and January 2021. This assistance from theEUSF to Croatia comes on top of an EU allocation of €111 million from the European Regional and Development Fund provided in early June 2021 for the reconstruction and construction of housing units for people that are unable to find housing because of social, economic or health reasons.