The European Parliament adopted by 680 votes to 7, with 1 abstention, a resolution approving the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Portugal, Spain, Italy and Austria hit by natural disasters in 2019.
Parliament approved the proposal to mobilise the European Union Solidarity Fund from the 2020 budget as follows in commitment and payment appropriations:
- EUR 8 212 697 to Portugal;
- EUR 56 743 358 to Spain;
- EUR 211 707 982 to Italy;
- EUR 2 329 777 to Austria.
It welcomed this decision as a sign of the Union’s solidarity with the Union citizens and regions hit by natural disasters. It highlighted that, due to climate change, natural disasters are set to become more violent and more frequent. Parliament also called for a reform of the Fund in the forthcoming multiannual financial framework in order to take into account the future consequences of climate change, while stressing that the Fund is only a curative instrument and that climate change requires primarily a preventive policy in line with the Paris Agreement and the Green Deal.
Lastly, Parliament noted that there is an urgent need to release financial assistance through the European Union Solidarity Fund to the regions affected by natural disasters in the Union in 2019. Therefore, in order to minimise the time taken to mobilise the Fund, this Decision shall apply from the date of its adoption.