Considerations on COM(2002)514 - EU Solidarity Fund - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2002)514 - EU Solidarity Fund. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2002)514  |
| date | November 11, 2002 |
(2) Existing economic and social cohesion instruments are able to finance risk-prevention measures and the repair of damaged infrastructure. However, provision should also be made for an additional instrument, to be distinguished from existing Community instruments, which enables the Community to act swiftly and efficiently to help, as quickly as possible, in mobilising emergency services to meet people's immediate needs and contribute to the short-term restoration of damaged key infrastructure so that economic activity can resume in the disaster-stricken regions.
(3) The European Union should also show solidarity with the countries currently negotiating their accession. Extending this Regulation to cover those countries entails recourse to Article 308 of the Treaty.
(4) Community aid should be complementary to the efforts of the States concerned and be used to cover a share of the public expenditure committed to dealing with the damage caused by a major disaster.
(5) In line with the principle of subsidiarity, assistance under this instrument should be confined to major disasters with serious repercussions on living conditions, the natural environment or the economy.
(6) A 'major disaster' within the meaning of this Regulation should mean any disaster, in at least one of the States concerned, resulting in important damage expressed in financial terms or as a percentage of the gross national income (GNI). In order to permit interventions in the case of disasters that, while important, do not reach the minimum scale required, assistance may also be granted under exceptional circumstances in case an eligible neighbouring country is affected by the same disaster, or whenever the major part of the population of a specific region is affected by a disaster with serious and lasting repercussions on living conditions.
(7) Community action should not relieve third parties of their responsibility who, under the 'polluter-pays' principle, are liable in the first instance for the damage caused by them, or discourage preventive measures at both Member State and Community level.
(8) This instrument should allow a rapid decision to be taken to commit specific financial resources and mobilise them as quickly as possible. Administrative procedures should be adjusted accordingly and confined to the minimum absolutely necessary. To this end, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have concluded on 7 November 2002 an Interinstitutional Agreement on the financing of the European Union Solidarity Fund, supplementing the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure.
(9) It may be desirable for the beneficiary State, in conformity with its specific constitutional, institutional, legal or financial context, to associate the regional or local authorities with the conclusion and the application of the implementation arrangements, the beneficiary State remaining in all cases responsible for the implementation of the assistance and for the management and control of the operations supported by Community financing.
(10) The detailed rules for applying this instrument should be adapted to the urgency of the situation.
(11) An operation funded by this instrument should not benefit for the same purpose from assistance under Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund(5), Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds(6), Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)(7), Council Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 of 18 December 1989 on economic aid to the Republic of Hungary and the Polish People's Republic(8), Council Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999 of 21 June 1999 establishing an Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession(9), Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 of 21 June 1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession period(10), Commission Regulation (EC) No 2760/98 of 18 December 1998 concerning the implementation of a programme for cross-border cooperation in the framework of the Phare programme(11), Council Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 of 21 June 1999 on coordinating aid to the applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89(12), Council Regulation (EC) No 555/2000 of 13 March 2000 on the implementation of operations in the framework of the pre-accession strategy for the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Malta(13), or Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 of 18 September 1995 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks(14); damage repaired under Community or international instruments relating to the compensation of specific damages should not, for the same purpose, benefit from assistance under this instrument.
(12) Maximum transparency is required in implementing the Community's financial assistance as well as proper monitoring of the use of resources.
(13) Prudent financial management is required to ensure that the Community can be in a position to respond if several major disasters occur in the same year.
(14) In exceptional cases and depending on the availability of financial resources under this instrument in the year of the occurrence of the disaster, provision should be made for possible supplementary grants from this instrument under the next year's Fund.
(15) A deadline should be laid down for the use of the financial assistance awarded and provision should be made for the beneficiary States to justify the use made of the assistance they receive. Assistance received which is subsequently recovered from third parties, or which was received in excess of the final valuation of the damages, should be recovered.
(16) In view of the exceptional circumstances, countries affected by disasters from Summer 2002 onwards should qualify for assistance under this instrument.
(17) In order to ensure rapid assistance to the countries affected by the recent floodings, it is very urgent to adopt this instrument; therefore, it is necessary to grant an exception to the six-week period for consideration by national parliaments referred to in Part I, point 3 of the Protocol on the role of national parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Communities.