European Commission pushes for EU disaster provisions
23/09/2002
The EU will seek to aid the restoration of rural areas in the Czech Republic and Slovakia devastated by last August's flooding.
The European Commission says it wants to amend the pre-accession instrument for agriculture, SAPARD, and raise the ceiling of public aid from 50% to 75%, with the EU contribution increased from 75% to 85% for relevant SAPARD projects in blighted rural areas.
The Commission insists that the EU needs to be able to respond appropriately to such exceptional natural disasters whenever they occur in candidate countries. It believes that actions to help restore rural areas fall under the scope of the SAPARD regulation. There are currently no provisions under existing rules that allow the EU to act in the wake of natural disasters.
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