The Budgets Committee of the European Parliament approved yesterday a 261.5 million euro support to help Portugal recover from the damage caused by the severe weather that battered the country between January and February.
This support still has to be approved by the Council of the European Union (EU) and by the plenary session of the European Parliament.
In a communiqué, the European Parliament (EP) said that, in total, 489 million euros were approved today to help four member states cope with the consequences of the storms: 261.5 million for Portugal, 149.1 million for Spain, 74.9 million for Italy and 3.7 million for Malta.
These funds will be mobilized under the European Union Solidarity Fund, which aims to help finance emergency and recovery measures, such as restoring the operation of energy infrastructures, water supply, wastewater, telecommunications and transport networks, as well as health and education services.
“The aid also covers cleanup operations, temporary accommodation and rescue services, as well as measures aimed at ensuring the safety of prevention infrastructures and protecting cultural heritage,” explains the institution.
In a note sent to the Lusa agency, the PSD MEP Hélder Sousa Silva, the EP’s shadow rapporteur on this project, states that Portugal has already received an advance of 65.37 million euros (about 25%) of the total 261.5 million euros.
The MEP recalls that the storms that battered Portugal between January and February, “especially in the Centro, Lisbon and Tagus Valley and Alentejo regions, as well as 19 deaths, hundreds of injured and displaced, caused the total or partial destruction of thousands of homes, businesses and equipment,” with damages “exceeding five billion euros.”
Hélder Sousa Silva now pledges to work for the “rapid provision of this fund, safeguarding the protection of the Union’s financial interests and the principles of budgetary transparency.”
This 261.5 million euro support had been proposed by the European Commission on 17 September.
Portugal was hit by a barrage of storms at the start of the year.
At least 19 people died in Portugal between the end of January and early March following the passage of depressions Kristin, Leonardo and Marta, which also left hundreds injured, displaced and evacuated.
More than half of the deaths occurred during recovery work.
The storms, which hit the continental territory for about three weeks, especially in the Centro, Lisbon and Tagus Valley and Alentejo regions, caused the total or partial destruction of thousands of homes, businesses and equipment, the collapse of trees and structures, power, water and communications outages, floods and inundations, with damages exceeding five billion euros.
