The EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) is the Union's main instrument for channelling European solidarity to those regions of Europe suffering from a disaster.
The EUSF was set up in 2002 and has since been used for almost 100 natural disasters of many different kinds: floods, forest fires, earthquakes, storms, droughts and, since the extension of its scope in 2020, also serious public health emergencies. This is not, in any case, a rapid response mechanism to specific natural emergencies, for which the Emergency Aid Reserve is involved.
In accordance with Community legislation, the Union may grant financial assistance to any Member State or candidate country applying for it within 12 weeks of a disaster and subject to an assessment and proposal of the amount of financial assistance by the European Commission. The intervention of the EUSF is implemented through a grant that complements the public expenditure of the beneficiary State.
EUSF support is geared towards financing essential emergency and recovery measures to mitigate uninsurable damage. Urgent measures eligible for EUSF funding include: immediate restoration of essential infrastructure and facilities (energy, drinking water, waste water disposal, telecommunications, transport, health and education), provision of temporary accommodation and relief services, protection of cultural heritage, clean-up of damaged areas, as well as rapid assistance to the population affected by a serious public health emergency and protection of the population from the risk of being affected.
Spain has been a beneficiary of the EU Solidarity Fund following a number of disasters.
- Prestige crisis (November 2002): 8.6 M€
- Forest fire on the Spain-Portugal border (August 2003): 1.3 M€
- Lorca earthquake (May 2011): 21,1 M€
- Forest fire in the north-west of the peninsula (October 2017): 3.2 M€
- DANA (November 2019): 56.7 M€
- COVID-19 (June 2020): 57 M€
- La Palma Volcano (December 2022): 9.5 M€