Source: European Parliament
The Commission is aware of the closure of road RN134 in France. The French authorities reported to the Commission that the Inter-Department Directorate for Atlantic Roads (DIRA) carried out a technical assessment on the ground, based on which it presented a proposal to repair the damage. Accordingly, the DIRA estimates that the works should be concluded in 2025[1].
The EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF)[2] can only be activated at the request of an eligible state, 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.
The EUSF may cover a part of the costs for emergency and recovery operations incurred by public authorities[3]. Private damage is not eligible. France has not requested EUSF assistance for this disaster yet.
The Commission supports Member States in improving their transport networks through different instruments, including Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for transport and Cohesion Policy’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
CEF supports the development of an interconnected trans-European transport network. Interreg supports cross border cooperation to promote the development of joint strategies and projects in relevant sectors for border regions.
The Spain-France-Andorra cooperation programme 2021-2027 invests EUR 18.7 million from the ERDF to promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention, resilience taking into account eco-system based approaches.
An additional EUR 12.4 million from the ERDF will be invested to increase the institutional capacity of regional authorities to deliver common services and to solve existing legal and administrative obstacles for better cooperation.
- [1] Although the traffic could already be restored in January 2025.
- [2] 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). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32002R2012
- [3] Eligible operations include the restoring of essential infrastructure, the provision of temporary accommodation to the population, cleaning-up operations and protection of cultural heritage.