On Thursday, EU finance ministers in Brussels decided to grant Belgium €87.7 million in emergency financial aid to help repair the widespread damage caused by floods in 2021.
Belgium, together with Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Greece and Austria requested financial aid from the European Solidarity Fund – already used during the pandemic and following natural disasters – because of the damage the floods caused in the summer of last year.
EU ministers thus decided on Tuesday to amend the yearly budget and provide the requesting member states €668 million in disaster relief.
In Belgium, the floods impacted tens of thousands of people, killed 39, and damaged many homes and infrastructure, resulting in billions of euros in damages.
By comparison, Germany was granted €612.6 million and the Netherlands and Austria are set to receive a respective €4.7 million and €798,000. Spain received €9.5 million after a volcano eruption caused damage in La Palma in September 2021.
The financial aid will be granted once the European Parliament and the Council have adopted the proposal.
(Anne-Sophie Gayet | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
