The Diplomat
The European Parliament’s Budget Committee yesterday endorsed an aid package totaling €397.45 million for 17 Member States and three candidates to deal with the COVID-19 emergency. Specifically, Spain will receive 36.6 million euros from the EU Solidarity Fund which, added to the advance of 16.84 million already disbursed, brings the total sum to 53.48 million.
The report, prepared by Eider Gardiazabal (S&D, Spain), passed with 38 votes in favor and one against. The aid must still be confirmed by the plenary next week. The other recipients of the aid to finance efforts against the pandemic are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, in addition to the candidate countries Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.
The funds will cover part of their expenditure on protective equipment, emergency support to the population and disease prevention, surveillance and control measures. Once approved by the plenary at the May 17-20 session, the outstanding money can be disbursed. The Council already gave its approval on April 23.
The Solidarity Fund was established following the floods in Central Europe in the summer of 2002, with the aim of assisting countries in emergency and recovery efforts following natural disasters. Between 2002 and 2020, the Fund has mobilized more than $6.5 billion to alleviate damage in 23 member states following 96 disasters and one accession country. In the next financial framework (2021-2027), the Fund will be integrated into the new Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve. In 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative, the Fund’s Regulations were amended to cover public health emergencies. In practice, this allows for the application of grants for pandemic-related expenditure.
