WRITTEN QUESTION E-2393/99 by Jean-Claude Martinez (TDI) to the Council. Lethal flooding in the south of France.
8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/123 networks. Is the Commission prepared immediately to set in motion the budgetary procedure aimed at getting emergency financial aid to the victims of natural disasters? Does it intend to draw this aid from the 1999 budget so as to enable the first of these payments to be made before the end of the year, as was the case with Turkey which received 180 million euros (or more than one billion francs) for the financial year 1999 following the earthquake on 17 August? Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (11 January 2000) The Commission immediately expressed its great concern about in November 1999. the floods in the south of France It would, however, remind the Honourable Member that for several years there has been no special heading in the Community budget to provide emergency aid for natural disasters in the Member States. The Commission informed the French authorities that, under the next programming period for regional and cohesion policy (2000-2006), it could contribute to repairs to infrastructure and eligible equipment in the disaster areas, provided those areas were eligible under the Structural Funds (new Objective 2 or transitional arrangements for Objectives 2 or 5(b)). Further assistance for agricultural structures could also be provided from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. (2000/C 225 E/131) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2393/99 by Jean-Claude Martinez (TDI) to the Council (13 December 1999) Subject: Lethal flooding in the south of France In November 1999, torrential rain, floods, landslides and broken material swept through four southern French dØpartements, Aude, HØrault, Tarn and the PyrØnØes Orientales, causing widespread devastation and more than 30 deaths, destroying roads, railway lines and all public electricity, water and telephone networks. Is the Council prepared immediately to set in motion the budgetary procedure aimed at getting emergency financial aid to the victims of natural disasters? Does it intend to draw this aid from the 1999 budget so as to enable the first of these payments to be made before the end of the year, as was the case with Turkey which received 180 million euros (or more than one billion francs) for the financial year 1999 following the earthquake on 17 August? Reply (28 February 2000) The Honourable Member asks whether the Council could open a budgetary procedure to release emergency aid appropriations for the victims of natural disasters in the south of France. A heading entitled Emergency aid to disaster victims in the Communityí appeared in the budget until the end of the 1997 financial year. As from the preliminary draft 1998 budget it ceased to be proposed because of criticism by the European Parliamentís Committee on Budgets, which argued that such aid should be granted at national level and not from the Community budget. As a result, humanitarian aid appropriations in the general budget are solely for third countries. A procedure similar to the aid given to Turkey, which is a third country, cannot therefore be envisaged for France. In any case, the responsibility for any initiative to commit appropriations allocated in the general budget by the budgetary authority rests with the Commission. It is therefore up to the Commission to see whether people and areas affected by natural disasters, such as that referred to in the question, can be helped by releasing appropriations from other chapters of the budget