IATE Term of the Week: European Union Solidarity Fund

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In 2017, several states were hit by natural disasters. On 15 February 2018, the European Commission decided to give €104 million from the EU Solidarity Fund to four EU Member States: Portugal and Spain following the forest fires, France (Saint-Martin and Guadeloupe) after hurricanes Irma and Maria, and Greece an earthquake that hit the island of Lesbos. That’s why we decided to take a closer look at the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) and how it works.

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The EUSF was created to respond to major disasters and express solidarity within Europe. It was set up following the severe flood in Europe that took place in summer 2002. Since then, it has covered 76 different disasters such as floods, storms or droughts. In order to receive aid, the Member State should send an application to the Commission within 12 weeks of the date of the first damage. If the application is accepted, the Commission then proposes an amount of aid to the European Parliament and the Council. Both have to approve before it can be paid out.  Then, the Commission adopts a decision awarding the money to the State. Once paid out, the Member State will decide on how to use the amount received.

You can check out our entry for European Union Solidarity Fund in IATE down below:

IATE-EU solidarity fund

We hope you enjoyed this article. Join us on Friday for the next entry. In the meantime, feel free to check out all our previous IATE Terms of the Week here!

IATE eu solidarity fund banner


Sources:

  • European Commission, EU solidarity at work: Commission offers financial aid to France, Greece, Spain and Portugal following natural disasters. Available here [accessed on 20/02/18].
  • European Commission, EU Solidarity fund. Available here [accessed on 20/02/18].

Written by  Anaïs Gilkin Terminology Trainee at TermCoord, she has a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting, an MA in Translation and Terminology Studies and a Master of Science in Education from the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Very interested in international politics, she focused her MA dissertation on Sharia and its impact on Muslim women. She knows French, English, Spanish and a bit of German and Dutch.