Source: European Parliament
1. The EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF)[1] can only be activated at the request of Greece which has a deadline of 12 weeks as from when the first damage occurred, demonstrating that the total direct damage exceeds the thresholds specified in Article 2 Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002. It may cover the costs of emergency and recovery operations by the public authorities. Private damage is not eligible. So far, Greece has not requested EUSF assistance for this disaster.
2. Overall , more than EUR 2 billion are planned under Cohesion Policy to support the prevention and management of fire risk. These investments target the reduction of the vulnerability of more than 130 million people to wildfire risk, particularly in regions with higher risk of wildfire exposure. The 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy programmes for Greece include allocations for addressing fire risk prevention and management actions, with a total public funding of EUR 421 million. Under shared management, Greece decides how to deploy these funds, in line with the applicable regulatory framework, and the objectives and priorities set up in the above-mentioned programmes.
3. Regarding the organisation and functioning of firefighting services, the Commission refers to the reply to written question 000020/2024 of 28 February 2024[2].
- [1] Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (OJ L 311, 14.11.2002, p. 3) as amended by Regulation (EU) No 661/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 May 2014 (OJ L 189, 27.6.2014, p. 143) and by Regulation (EU) 2020/461 of the European Parliament and the Council of 30 March 2020 (OJ L 99, 31.3.2020, p. 9).
- [2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2024-000020-ASW_EN.html