Budget 2004: Solidarity Fund, mobilisation for natural disasters

PURPOSE : to provide aid to Malta, France and Spain in the wake of natural disasters. LEGISLATIVE ACT : Decision 2004/323/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund in accordance with point 3 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission 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. CONTENT : to recall, the European Parliament created a European Solidarity Fund to show solidarity with the population of regions struck by disasters. Malta submitted an application to mobilise the Fund on 10 November 2003, concerning a disaster caused by storm and flooding. Spain submitted an application on 1 October 2003 concerning a fire-related disaster. France also submitted an application on 26 January 2004 concerning a disaster caused by flooding. The Interinstitutional Agreement of 7 November 2002 allows the mobilisation of the Fund within the annual ceiling of EUR 1 billion. The cases of the storm and flooding in Malta in September 2003, the forest fire in Spain in the summer of 2003 and the flooding in southern France in December 2003 fulfil the criteria for mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund. Therefore, this Decision states that for the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2004, the European Union Solidarity Fund shall be mobilised to provide the sum of EUR 21916995 in commitment appropriations. ENTRY INTO FORCE : 30 March 2004.�