Funds to restore damage caused to public infrastructure in Samothrace by the extreme weather conditions
| 20 March 2015 |
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| Question for written answer to the Commission Rule 130 Notis Marias (ECR) |
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The heavy rainfall which hit the island of Samothrace on 7 and 8 March damaged every single rural road and caused a great deal of damage to technical works on roads, the road network, verges and, most importantly, the road network between Therma and Kipos in the north part of the island.
Serious subsidence was reported at several places on the island (Profitis Ilias, Lakkoma, Limnidi and Chora) and wells in the areas of Karyota, Therma and Makrylia-Xyropotamos sustained extensive damage.
In view of the above, will the Commission say what funds it intends to release and to what timetable for the purpose of:
| 1. | full and immediate restoration of the damage to public infrastructure in Samothrace caused by the above extreme weather conditions and |
| 2. | construction of flood protection works in the area. |
Source:European Parliament
Answer given by Ms Creţu on behalf of the Commission
The EU Solidarity Fund may award financial assistance to Member States affected by serious natural disasters. The Fund can however only be mobilised following an application from the national authorities of the affected State within 12 weeks of the occurrence of the disaster. Moreover, the Fund may only intervene if total direct damage exceeds a certain threshold. In the case of Greece the threshold is EUR 1.091 billion (i.e. 0.6% of gross national income) for so-called major disasters. For smaller, so-called regional disasters, the threshold is 1.5% of regional GDP at NUTS 2 level. The damage threshold for the Anatoliki Makedonia — Thraki NUTS 2 region — of which Samothrace is a part — is EUR 123.4 million.
Should the Greek authorities apply within the deadline and the damage threshold be met, the Solidarity Fund could, among other things, contribute towards the restoration of essential public infrastructure. It could however not be used for prevention purposes.
As regards the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds, under the thematic objective ‘Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management’, Greek regional programmes and the national programme ‘Transport, Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development’ envisage the co-financing of climate change and risk prevention measures, including anti-flood ones. Anti-flood measures supported by ESI Funds should be in line with a national or regional risk assessment, which constitutes ex-ante conditionality for granting financial assistance.
Source: European Parliament
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