The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation in Italy after the earthquakes.
The text adopted was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, GUE/NGL, Greens/EFA and EFDD groups.
Members recalled that after the devastating earthquake that hit central Italy on 24 August 2016, three more major quakes, together with a flurry of tremors, struck the central Italian regions, on 26 October 2016. The most recent earthquake on 30 October 2016 was the strongest tremor to hit the country in more than three decades, involving the total flattening of entire villages. In the recent quakes more than 400 people are reported to have been injured and 290 to have died.
Expressing its deepest solidarity and empathy with all the individuals affected by the earthquakes, Parliament called on the Commission to identify all possible ways of providing help to the Italian authorities with a view to guaranteeing decent living conditions for the people deprived of their homes.
Members welcomed the increased level of flexibility in the deficit calculation on spending related to the earthquakes that has been granted to Italy in order to cope with the current emergency.
In light of this exceptional and very serious situation, Parliament asked the Commission to consider having sustainable reconstruction and any anti-seismic investments, including those co-financed through the European Structural and Investment Funds, excluded from the calculation of national deficits in the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact.
The resolution took note of the application presented for the European Solidarity Fund by the Italian Government and called on the Commission to undertake all necessary measures to analyse requests for assistance under the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) promptly. It stressed in this context the importance of advance payments being made available as soon as possible to the national authorities to enable them to respond to the urgent demands of the situation.
Parliament stressed:
The resolution also called for:
Lastly, national, regional and local authorities are urged to step up efforts to make structures compliant with the earthquake standards in force and to pay due attention to this when issuing building permits.