The European Union invests 1.2 billion euros annually in its social fund, which members can draw on after natural disasters. This year the resources have already been exhausted. A planned increase would likely be just a drop in the bucket, as recent disasters show.
Brussels authorities said on Tuesday that the resources available for relief measures in disaster areas were no longer sufficient. The increase in devastating weather conditions is the cause of this.
In July and August alone, the EU disaster mechanism was activated twelve times. The triggers were forest fires, floods and emergencies in Ukraine, explained the responsible EU Commissioner Janez Lenarcic. Over the past two years, requests for help within the European civil protection system have exploded. This is an increase of 400 percent.
Help will soon no longer be possible?
“Resources have reached their limits,” the Slovenian politician said. “Soon we may no longer be able to help when necessary.” According to the information, the funds have already been fully used up in 2021 and 2022. In the current year, the scale of natural disasters has increased, as evidenced by the forest fires and floods in Greece and Spain, or the floods in Slovenia.
“To maintain a viable future and survive this brutal new normal, we first and foremost need more and better investments in prevention and adaptation,” the EU Commissioner said on X (formerly Twitter).
The EU emergency reserve currently amounts to a maximum of EUR 1.2 billion per year. The European Commission wants to increase the fund by 2.5 billion euros for the years 2024 to 2027. However, the Member States and the European Parliament must agree to this.
The increase probably won’t be enough
2.5 billion euros sounds like a lot, but it is quickly used up in environmental disasters. For comparison, the Swiss analysis institute Prognos estimates the total cost of flood damage in Germany’s Ahr Valley alone at 40 billion euros in 2021 – which is roughly comparable to the value of all US military aid to Ukraine since the start of the war.
The recent flood damage in Greece can only be alleviated by the EU. Horrendous costs are also expected here. Athens should be able to borrow up to 2.25 billion euros from various EU funds, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday during a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Strasbourg.
Given the dire situation, it is important to be innovative, fast and flexible. A specially formed flood relief task force will begin its work on Tuesday. The money could come, among other things, from previously unspent resources from the European Social Fund, according to Von der Leyen. In addition, Greece could call on the Solidarity Fund and apply for loans – although according to Lenarcic the pot is almost empty.
FFF announces international climate strike
Mitsotakis assured that Greece could also take on a lot itself thanks to the country’s current good economic development. In view of the consequences of climate change for many EU countries, he also advocated an increase in the EU Solidarity Fund in the future.
The organization Fridays For Future (FFF) is calling for an international climate strike on Friday. In Austria, organizers expected “thousands of participants” at a press conference on Tuesday. FFF’s central demand: Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) must convene a “national summit on climate disasters”.
The Association of Austrian Insurance Companies stated a few months ago that annual storm damage in the Republic would now exceed the one billion mark. After the flood of the century in 2003, damage still amounted to between 300 and 400 million euros.
Source: Krone
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