European Union Solidarity Fund - Performance

(million EUR)

^{(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.}

^{(**) The total budget does not include the total amounts for the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve.}

Solidarity is one of the fundamental values of the EU and a guiding principle of the European integration process. The EUSF turns solidarity into tangible aid for Member States or countries negotiating their accession to the EU if they are affected by major national or regional natural disaster or a major public health emergency.

Climate change is causing more frequent and extreme weather events in Europe and around the world. The increasing number and scale of natural disasters in the past few years and the inclusion of health emergencies within the scope of the EUSF have created unprecedented demand and considerable budgetary pressure on the limited resources allocated to the EUSF in accordance with the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework regulation. This, together with greater uncertainty about the available budget for the EUSF under the new Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve budgetary mechanism, has put a strain on the fund, making it challenging to be able to fully satisfy demand.

The available amount for the EUSF in 2022 was lower in absolute and relative terms than at the time of the fund’s inception in 2002. When the EUSF was created, it had a maximum annual allocation of EUR 1 billion in current prices, which was maintained from 2002 to 2013.

In 2021, for the first time since the establishment of the EUSF, due to a limited budget, the determined amounts of aid (resulting from applying the methodology) for eligible COVID-19 health emergency applications from 20 applicant countries were not paid in full. Only 47% of the total potential aid was provided. This was due to the calculated amounts of aid resulting in a total for all countries that exceeded the available budget resources.

Similarly, in 2022, the Commission reduced aid for seven applicant Member States on a pro rata basis, as the total calculated aid for all countries considerably exceeded the available budget resources. As a result, the amount of aid provided to each of the applicants (Belgium, Germany, Spain, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria) constituted only 38% of the potential aid resulting from the methodology for calculating EUSF aid as set out in the 2002-2003 annual report on the EUSF and accepted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

In February 2023, two very large earthquakes caused an estimated EUR 32.2 billion ⁽¹⁾ in direct physical damage in Türkiye. The country is eligible to submit an application for support by the EUSF. Should the application be submitted and, based on the Commission’s assessment, considered acceptable, the available budgetary allocation for the fund will again not be sufficient to provide assistance in line with the agreed EUSF aid calculation methodology.

^{(1) https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/02/27/earthquake-damage-in-turkiye-estimated-to-exceed-34-billion-world-bank-disaster-assessment-report.}

The EUSF is designed to contribute to post-disaster relief in Member States and countries negotiating their accession to the EU that are confronted with devastating natural disasters or major public health emergencies.

The EUSF’s objective is to respond to emergency situations in a rapid, efficient and flexible manner. The fund grants financial assistance to eligible states in the event of a major or regional natural disaster or a major public health emergency with serious repercussions on living conditions, the natural environment or the economy. The fund’s resources can be used to finance emergency and recovery operations undertaken by public authorities in support of the affected population.

Support from the EUSF is used to cover part of public expenditure incurred in response to the disaster. The fund is designed in such a way that the amount of support is related to the size of the disaster. It also takes into account the country’s capacity to cope on its own with the financial burden triggered by the disaster.

The EUSF can (re-)finance public emergency and recovery operations from the very onset of the disaster or health emergency. In the case of a natural disaster, it can provide financing for restoring to working order infrastructure and plant in the fields of energy, water and waste water, telecommunications, transport, health and education; provide temporary accommodation; fund rescue services to help the affected population; and secure preventive infrastructure and cleaning-up operations. In the case of a health emergency, it can finance rapid assistance, including medical aid to the population, and protect the population from the risk of being affected, including by preventing, monitoring and controlling the spread of diseases, combating severe risks to public health or mitigating the impact on public health.

The EUSF is a targeted, flexible instrument aimed at assisting Member States affected by major natural disasters and public health emergencies. As such EU-wide solidarity cannot be achieved by Member States alone on an ad hoc basis, a systemic, regular and equitable method of granting assistance was developed at the EU level. Financial assistance from the EUSF is mobilised from appropriations raised by the European Parliament and the Council over and above the normal EU budget appropriations.

Eligibility is determined by total direct damage exceeding a threshold specific to each Member State or country negotiating their accession to the EU. It is set at the national level (major disasters) or at the regional level (regional disasters). The number and size of eligible disasters determine the amount of aid in a given year.

The total annual budgetary allocation to the fund laid down in the multiannual financial framework is a ceiling rather than a spending target. Disbursements from the fund are therefore not programmable, as they entirely depend on the unpredictable occurrence, nature and magnitude of these disasters.

The Commission may not activate the EUSF on its own initiative. Financial assistance from the EUSF is mobilised from appropriations raised by the European Parliament and the European Council over and above the normal EU budget appropriations. This ensures that, in each case, the aid comes as an expression of solidarity with the full backing of Member States and the Parliament, not just as an administrative act by the Commission.

Once the appropriations become available in the EU budget, the Commission adopts a decision awarding aid to the affected state, which receives it immediately and in a single instalment. Once paid out, the affected state is responsible for the implementation, including the selection of operations and their audit and control. Emergency and recovery operations may be financed retroactively from day one of the disaster.

The Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy is the lead DG for EUSF implementation. EUSF assistance is implemented through shared management (indirect management for countries negotiating their accession to the EU). However, in order to minimise the administrative burden on countries struggling with a serious disaster and to maximise the budgetary effect, there are no programming or national co-financing requirements.

Figure 1. Concise EUSF process

Figure 2. Graphic overview of the EUSF implementation structure and actors

The EUSF is a special instrument outside the normal EU budget. Its mobilisation requires the approval of the European Parliament and the Council. In the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, the EUSF will be financed through the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve. The maximum annual amount of the reserve is EUR 1.2 billion (in 2018 prices). Until 1 September of each year, 75% of the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve annual allocation is released in equal parts to the EUSF and the Emergency Aid Reserve. After 1 September, the unspent amounts from the first period – and after 1 October, the retained 25% – can be used by any of the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve components.

Programme website:

• EUSF.

Impact assessment:

• no impact assessment was carried out for the EUSF, however an ex post evaluation was completed in 2019 (https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/publications/evaluations/2019/ex-post-evaluation-of-the-european-union-solidarity-fund-2002-2016_en).

Relevant regulation:

• Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 establishing the EUSF: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32014R0661;
• 2020 amendment (Regulation (EU) 2020/461): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32020R0461.

• Two series of earthquakes hit Croatia in March 2020 and in December 2020. The Commission granted around EUR 1 billion from the EUSF to support the country’s reconstruction following the disasters. From the date of reception of the total aid, Croatia was given 18 months to use the assistance to finance immediate emergency and recovery operations. However, the implementation deadline of the assistance was prolonged to 30 June 2023 due to the exceptional amount of assistance to be implemented. The absorption levels of the funds are still relatively low, but will increase up to the final deadline.
• In 2022, the Commission finalised the assessment of seven applications relating to natural disasters that occurred in 2021: the applications from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria in relation to the floods of July 2021; the application from Spain in relation to the volcanic eruption in La Palma in September 2021 and the application from Greece in relation to the earthquake that hit Crete in September 2021. As a result, on the basis of the Commission’s proposal, over EUR 718 million of EUSF assistance was mobilised and awarded in 2022 to these seven Member States.
• In terms of payments, over EUR 18 million from the awarded amount was paid out in 2022 to five Member States: Greece, Spain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria. It is expected that in early 2023 the Commission will be able to pay out the EUSF assistance to Belgium and Germany relating to the floods of 2021. The money was mobilised by the budgetary authority in December 2022: Belgium will receive over EUR 87 million and Germany over EUR 612 million.
• In addition, in 2022 the Commission received two new natural-disaster applications: a major-disaster application from Romania relating to the drought in 2022 and a regional-disaster application from Italy regarding the floods in the Marche region in September 2022. The assessments started in the second half of 2022 and will continue in 2023.
• Inflation and the war in Ukraine have had no apparent effect on the implementation and performance of the EUSF.

^{(*) % of target achieved by the end of 2022.}

Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators